


Your Duty

by Cucuxumusu



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Drama, Fantasy, Fight against society, Greek AU, Historical Inaccuracy, Horses, I destroy a few cultures, Kidd is a master with the tension, Law has no idea, Law tries to resist, Lots of Angst, Luxury, M/M, Pining, Sexual Tension, Smut enought for you all, Wars, bath scene, lots of them - Freeform, non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-03-19 12:31:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 27
Words: 107,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13704519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cucuxumusu/pseuds/Cucuxumusu
Summary: In ancient Grece, there's a city called Delphi were young men had to pass a test before the elder's assembly and the god temple to be considered full citiziens. Depending on your skills and aptitudes your future would be decided there.Law and Ace, two young brothers, had reached their twenty birthday and had to face the test next to the other boys. However, a week before the test, someone apear on their lives. Why Kidd, the new general seems to be so interested in him? Could he find some time to train and study? Would he be able to become a doctor?





	1. Objetives

**Author's Note:**

> As some of you might know, I wrote this fic in 2013, it was my first kidlaw long fic, to be true, my first big project and my beggiining in the ship. I have been asked to translate it several times, to be true I don't know why, it wasn't that great, just rereading it had give me a headache, but since I have lost my inspiration recently, I guess I can do this now.
> 
> Again the characters are not mine, this is a Greek AU, a bit darker than other fics I have writen and with more pairs, however don't expect historical accurany (I destry several cultures with this fic) and as always the main is KidLaw, so don't expect much interaction of side pais. Hope you like it.

Delphi wasn't a city neither big nor small in comparison to the other Greek cities, it could be even considered normal if you just looked at its size and population, it's commerce or richness. Like all Greek metropolises, the city had its own character, its own rules and government. The Spartans loved war, Athens loved arts, Olympia sports…Delphi however was the center of religion. The city was governed by an assembly of elders who met every month in the central square and debated the so-called democracy, there was a theatre, there was an army, but in reality, they all abided to the decisions of the temple. The temple of Delphi was famous for its oracle and for being one of the few temples that had a real god living in it.

Although Law didn't believe that much in religion.

In general, Delphi was a good place to live. There was a certain equality between men and women, food was never lacking on tables, and they hadn't gone to war for years. As long as you had money and a little bit of social power, everything was fine. Children were educated at a young age in the arts and sciences, and when they reached their twenties they were all presented in the temple to the god in a ceremony of maturity. Then, in front of the assembly, and after passing some trials, they chose a job that suited them, and they started to work as a full citizen.

Law thought about the options he had ahead of him for the tenth time. You could be selected to be part of the military, or a politician if you liked to discuss about absurd stupidities. Then there were the artisans, potters, crafters, painters, sculptors… if your parents were also in the fields and they had taught you since childhood the difficult and impossible crafts. You could also serve in the temple to the alleged ridiculous God, be a doctor, food provider…or military, and more military.

To be true, it hadn't cost Law a lot to decide what he was going to do when he grew up.

Closing the medical book in his hands, he devoted himself to watch his two brothers train in the backyard of the huge villa they lived, a small extension of land surrounded by olive trees and rough terrain. The sun was high and warm in the sky, the salt of the ocean scented the air, and the slow summer day was starting to get more boring than usual as his brother shouted at each other.

Ace and Luffy had decided they wanted to enter the army. _Like all the children in the damn city_. Soldiers were what all the children dreamed of being, with their shining armor, proud figures and epic stories. They flighted heroically for the city to protect them all. Like Alexander. Like Aquiles. However, the entrance tests done before the god and the assembly on their coming of age ceremony, were complicated and only a few managed to enter. That's why Ace and Luffy had been training for years in the arts of war: wrestling, fencing, riding ... Sometimes Law joined them, after all, it was good to do a little exercise, and it never hurt to know how to fit a couple of punches or make someone cry.

He was pretty good at it thought. Ace had tried to convince him a few years ago that his vocation was really the fight, the battlefield, that he should join the army with them. Law however had laid out his heavy arguments against it all and Ace had left the room wondering if he also really wanted to end up getting into the army.

"Law," yelled his little brother -a little punk of barely fifteen years old, to skinny to do what he was doing with a sword, and with a smile to big and pure to face a battlefield- when he saw Law closed the book and got up "come train with us"

"Not today, I want to go talk with the old man" he told the panting boy with a serious tired look. He didn't like training, he didn't like the physical exercise, why did they keep insisting?

His other brother, Ace, a copy of Luffy but with longer hair and bigger muscles, took advantage of the minor's distraction and slammed him into the ground in a quick movement. Luffy whined. Ace smirked. Law had no doubt that both would get into the army easily.

Slowly he entered the house and walked through one of the decorated halls of the house. The place was big, one of the biggest houses of the city, the walls were made of stone and decorated with paintings of battles, games and daily activities, the floor was covered in fine mosaics, and wild plants grew over the columns and windows. As Law entered into the inner courtyard he felt his brother Ace following him after probably leaving a sulky humiliated Luffy in the yard.

"Why are you going to see the old man?" Asked the freckled man as he wiped the swear from his forehead. Law watched him from the corner of his eyes. Ace had changed a bit in the last months, gained musculature, matured, left the soft lines of his childhood to enter adulthood. He was turning into a quite an attractive man, Law had already seen a few glances follow him as they walked through the village.

Well, Ace and Luffy weren't really his brothers, the grandfather of the two boys had adopted him when he was barely three years old, and had been starving and injured in the ruins of his old city. The old commander had found him huddled under a ruined house, and without hesitation, he had taken him with him.

Law could never be grateful enough. He knew that if it had not been for him, he would have ended up as a slave or starved to dead in less than a week.

"Today they decided the date of the ceremony" Ace started again with an old nervous look in his eyes as Law kept his silence "Do you think he knows…"

"Yes, he knows, that's why I'm going to see him" Law answered just as tense but doing a much better job than his brother at hiding it. "He should have arrived by now"

Both walked in an uncomfortable and hard silence to the old man's office on the other part of the courtyard. The old commander normally needed a long time to get to the house from the training camps after the day's practice, but neither of them could wait any longer, and the old man knew it. He would arrive earlier just for them.

They both turned twenty that year and both would have to attend the maturity ceremony in a few weeks. The ceremony was held in the Coliseum and it was a general holiday in the city so everyone could celebrate and have fun. All the people congratulated and drank on their honor as they were exposed half naked as another entertainment for the populace while performing the tests.

It was shameful and demeaning thing, but it was something they all had to do. It gave a warm and memorable feeling to the elders, and a nervous and tense one for the participants. It was just a crazy thing.

They entered the old man's room. A small place filled with long low sofas, wooden desk and different art pieces. It was the place where they held meetings with other members of the city, celebrated parties or just worked in peace. A luxurious but comfortable place.

"Are you nervous?" Ace asked as he followed Law inside.

Law just glared eloquently at him sitting on one of the fancy sofas and opening the book of medicine he had carried from the training yard.

"…Yeah. Sorry" the freckled man sighted and ran his hands through his dark black hair.

Law just closed the book annoyed and looked at his brother freaking out. The ceremony was extremely important to them both, their future would be decided there, the assembly would decide what they should do based on the skills they showed in the tests. Normally they tried to choose something that the boy wanted since it used to be very obvious, but many times they committed a mistake and the young man would end up doing something he hated. Those storied didn't usually have a happy ending.

"Ace, for fucks shake, relax, it will all be ok" he grunted, urging the other boy to sit next to him on the sofa. His pacing was slightly getting on his also worried nerves. He was also taking the test, his life was also going to be decided without his opinion.

Ace however just looked at him with a frown.

"That's easy for you to say, you genius" the other growled sitting down next to him despite his protests "It's clear that you will end up as a student of Kureha, but it's hard to get in the army, and despite gramps job…"

Law sighted. Ace had always had such a low self-esteem and confidence. Law just couldn't understand it. He was great, one of the strongest and more capable boys of the city. He would get into the position _easily_.

So Law just put an arm around his brother shoulders in a patronizing and arrogant way.

"Do you remember that incident in the temple with Luffy's meat where you had to fight the three soldiers?" He commented, making Ace quickly blush at the memory "Or the slavers chasing that girl when were five? What about the ship escape? The bath's pervert?"

Ace glared at him. Their adventures when young had been many. Not all of them honorable or admirable. Most of them needed to be forgotten and left in the past.

"Where are you trying to go?" Ace said in a deadly tone.

"You have always saved our ass. Even against trained soldiers, Ace. Do you think a stupid test would be able to stop you? Even the old man recognizes you"

Ace frowned at him, as if not yet convinced. Law sighed, at punched his brother on the arm.

"Just go kick their asses and make us proud" he said in his last resort. In one of the military mottos.

That made Ace finally smile and punch him back affectionate. Law knew that he didn't usually showed much affection to his family, he was rather cold, but he still worried about them. Ace had been more than tense the last months of training and Law was starting to worry. Just seeing him smile, even for just a minute, it kind of calmed him a bit, the older boy had matured too quickly in the last year, he now didn't smile as often.

This smile didn't last for long thought.

A few steps were finally heard in the hall coming in their direction and Ace jumped in the air as if burned. Law wondered about mocking him, but a look into his brother's face made him reconsider. Standing too, more calmly, more elegantly and controlled, he observed two figures covered in golden armors and carrying weapons enter the room.

Law recognized his grandfather, Monkey D. Garp, an old gray-haired man with deep eyes who stared at him curiously as to what they were doing there, but still he smiled with the warm expression of a man who have adopted a lonely child years ago. Law however had never seen the other man before.

"What are you doing here boys?" said the old man approaching a table where some spiced wine was exposed next to some vases.

"We were wondering if you-…"

"Do you know anything about the date, old man?" Ace said interrupting him, still with his pale face and his serious dark eyes looking terrified.

Garp looked at them with a knowing smile, the glass in his hand still empty from the wine, and looking forgotten in favor of the entertaining scene he had in front of him. The redhead strange man however only stood at the door in a ready position, with his hands behind his back and looking at Law with eyes that made him uneasy.

"Mmm, I think so" the old man said mysteriously, humor coloring his voice.

Both boys tensed at the same time and instantly, the old man had both young boys attention. Garp laughed low making them both frown at their own eager reaction.

"They decided to make it in five days, coinciding with I don't know what moon cycle" he murmured shrugging, finally filling the cup and sitting in one of the sofas and taking a ship of the expensive wine with a pleasured expression.

Ace in front of him just paled even more. Law frowned imperceptibly.

"Isn't it too soon?" Law finally commented since Ace seemed to be left speechless. Normally they gave the boys presenting a few weeks to prepare and mentally be ready. Ace and Law didn't even have one. Law had hoped to have at least two weeks to review all he knew about medicine, but in a week, he couldn't even read Hippocrates works.

Garp again shrugged calmly. Law wanted to scream at him. Military were so carefree sometimes. But suddenly, the redhead next to the door moved slightly and his armor tinkled capturing everyone's attention.

"Who is he?" Ace finally asked, as if needing to change the topic in order to stop freaking out.

 **"** Oh, yeah I think you do not know him yet" said the old man turning and gesturing to the redhead to come closer "This is Eustass Kidd, my new general, just promoted him a week ago" the man murmured giving the general a pat on the arm when the man got closer, as a father proud of a son.

The redhead man simply smirked arrogantly at the boys.

"Nice to meet you. Congratulations for the position" Ace murmured after a silent pause, his voice sounding slightly in awe.

Law rolled his eyes.

 _'Great_ ,' he thought when hearing his brother _'Another personal hero'_ Seriously, what happened to the people with the army? All boys dreamt with becoming soldiers, to reach the general position was like a wet dream, like the ultimate orgasm. Ace looked as if he could drool over the arrogant man, and the man looked as if he knew it as well.

Law frowned and observed the redhead more closely.

He looked solid, a strong man who didn't look much older than him, but that still was several inches taller and broader than him. The golden armor outlined his chest muscles and it stood out against his pale skin making it look as if he was made of marble, weird for a soldier who spent hours under the sun, but not uncommon. He also had two dark leather bracelets that protected his forearms and gave him a threatening appearance that matched his red wild hair and the simple sword at his hip. The typical short skirt of the army he was wearing, left nothing to the imagination showing his strong thighs and long legs that ended in the high sandals also used in the army.

However, what intrigued Law most was the arrogant and confident smile he man had, characteristic of someone who always got what he wanted. Law could guess why, the man was handsome, the most attractive man he had even met, and by the wicked look in his eyes, he looked also pretty smart and mischievous.

Dangerous. Attractive. Smart. Girls and boys would fall at his knees. Law kind of hated him.

Suddenly the general turned his gaze and returned Law's gaze intensely, widening his smile even more and looking kind of proud. As if he had been waiting for Law to look at him and cheek him out. Law just broke the eye contact feeling pissed.

"From now on, he will come to our house often since we will have to deal with some work. Be nice to him and try to help him. He is still learning about his new duties" said the old man making the two young boys nod, one eagerly, the other reluctant "Now, if you could leave I would like to discuss certain things with him"

Both young men got up obediently and left the room in silence. The two men inside the room looked at each other, and if a switch had been turned, they began to talk about military practices and the latest news they had received from Athens about the Roman's increasing power, and what they should do.

Outside the room, both young men walked silently through the corridors. Ace was still pale, the emotions of meeting a new general disappearing as he remembered what they would be facing. Five days was nothing. They would have to start preparing and thinking about how to face the test. They needed to train harder, study harder...

"I am going to my ..." Ace began completely lost in his thoughts, signaling the training field where Luffy shouts could still be heard.

Law nodded and in turn began to walk towards his own room. He was nervous. Worried. Or starting to fall into shock. _Five days_. He needed to reread the volumes of Galen and Aristotle and ... When he got to his room he just felt into his books with more desperation that he wanted to recognize.

…oOo…

Time passed quickly and before Law realized it, night had fallen. Yawning, he decided to leave his hermit and find some food if Luffy had left something for once. It was always the same, he stayed late studying, and his family already used to it, left him some food on the kitchen for when he finished. Luffy however, seemed to find said food before Law, and normally ended up demolishing it. Law didn't care, he sometimes forgot to eat, Ace and Garp however…

Law smiled just remembering Luffy's terrified screams.

The raven boy walked in the deep silence of the night down the dark corridor that took him to the inner part of the house where the kitchen was. Thanks god, the summer night lowered the temperature and a soft breeze filled the house with cold air and the scent of olive trees. It was so pleasant that for a moment Law forgot about the test, about how he still needed to practice dialectics and math, and how to...

Suddenly, he felt someone grab him by one of his arms and slam him against one of the painted walls of the corridor abruptly. Law grunted in pain and surprise, but two arms quickly rested on either side of his head, trapping him and cutting off any escape route.

Eustass Kidd looked at him with his reddish eyes inches away from his, and with that arrogant smile still on his thin lips. Law looked at him confused and a bit mad. What the hell was he doing? He was his boss' son after all, there were some limits the other shouldn't cross. Smashing him against a was certainly one of them.

"What are you doing?" He asked slightly out of breath thanks to the proximity, but quite pissed off, making his tone sound sarcastic and annoyed in consequence.

Kidd's smirk turned predatory. A strange gleam appeared on his eyes.

"You are Law, aren't you?" Asked the redhead in a low voice that made Law's hair stand on end. It was the first time he had heard him speak. He had not been prepared for it. Low, husky, it seemed to suggest all kind of dark pleasurable things.

"Maybe," Law replied slightly uncomfortable and angry with himself at his own reaction. What was happening to him? Who was really this man?

The other seemed to scrutinize him in the gloom of the night with the strange and intense red eyes. Law glared back at him, showing no submission, no weakness. He had dealt with a lot of military in his life, he knew how their brain worked, they respecter courage and honor before anything, if you wanted to get rid of them you couldn't show them weakness or they would munch on it.

The redhead however just nodded and then he moved away releasing him. He seemed content for some reason. Law looked at him without understanding a thing, but thankful for the increased distance between them.

"I have made up my mind" the general said as he started walking away down the hall with the arrogant smile on his face and his sword tinkling against the armor.

Law looked at him go puzzled "What?"

Kidd turned around and looked at him with a serious face that looked thoughtful. The predatory and dangerous gleam coming back to his eyes.

Suddenly, he walked back to him and before Law could do anything or understand what was happening, the other grabbed him by the hair on the back of his neck and pulled, forcing him to raise his head to save the height. His body pushed him back then, against the wall, cornering him again, while the other hand rested next to his head and one of his exposed legs made its way up between his own, to caress a certain part of his anatomy.

Law opened his eyes in shock. What the fuck?

"You're going to be mine," the man announced in a serious, commanding voice. The voice of someone who would not admit a reply. Of a general. Of a leader.

Law gasped incredulous as Kidd squeezed him against the wall even more, pressing him painfully against it, letting him feel his whole body and his desire. Leaning over him with starving eyes. So powerful. So strong. So fucking dominant.

"Really?" Law said, suddenly smiling at him falsely, dangerously, with a needy weak voice that caressed the other's lips so close to him now "We will see about that, _general_ "

And he kicked him. With all the force he could. In the crotch.

Kidd instantly separated from him, doubling and writhing in pain. Law glared at him with hate, considered kicking him again, but instead he just began to walk down the hallway back to his room. Apparently, that day, he would skip dinner.

However, before disappearing through the corridors and go back to his room to prevent himself for murdering the man, he could clearly hear the last words of the red-haired general.

" I'm starting to like you more and more, boy"

Law opened his eyes in anger, clenched his fists, and accelerated his way to his room. _Murdering was a crime. Murdering was a crime._

Once he arrived at the room he stood there in the middle of it all with his heart beating a thousand times an hour. What the hell had just happened?! Well, he wasn't an innocent and weak little girl who did not know what a kiss was, he had already had a series of experiences on that subject as every other adolescent. But his experiences went back to a series of disastrous moments with some boy as inexperienced as him, or the odd night of drunkenness with Ace that had gotten out of hand and had ended with both of them puking on an empty road and with a blurry memory not at all instructive.

He had never given importance to that subject. He had never bothered to look for anyone like other boys his age did to sing cloying sonatas at the foot of the balcony. That was stupid as fuck. If he ever had any need he simply satisfied it himself.

 _'You are going to be mine'_.

That had pissed him. A lot. Who did the other think he was? The king of Athens? Nobody gave him orders or forced him to do anything. He slept with whomever he wanted and the redhead had just entered his blacklist the hard way. How can someone be so arrogant? He was his boss' son!

The man was also a fucking general, one of the big ones. Why on earth did he want him? Garp could kill him for that, and Law was sure that the redhead could have anyone he wanted in his bed with that smirk and with that dark aura. Fuck, only god would know the experience that the redhead would have on that subject.

"Shit".

That thought heated him completely, especially as he remembered how dominant the other had been. Surely, he would be an animal in bed, sure he would like it hard, make his lover writhe with pleasure while torturing him for hours without letting him finish, while he tore out needy screams from his lover, until he begged him to fuck him once, and then the redhead would mock him with that arrogant smile and ride him till he fainted, while...

He hit himself mentally trying to decrease his pulsations.

He didn't want stupid problems, much less now, barely a week away from the ceremony. Besides, he didn't think that, with the redhead, a quick encounter of one night would satisfy him, and he didn't trust him either, he was too arrogant. Fuck, they had just met, he wasn't a damn bitch who opened his legs to the first one who insinuated himself.

"Or ordered it," he recalled with rage. He definitely needed to stop the other for real.


	2. Dirty Play

The next day Law locked himself in his room trying to avoid the redhaired general by all means. During breakfast, an excited Ace had told him that the general had stayed in the house for the night because the talk with the old man had lasted longer than they had expected, and Garp had offered him to stay. That had explained why he had found him the night before swarming around the house happily, but then, Ace had let him known between smiles, that the old man had also asked the general to stay with them for a few more days so he could train Ace and Law in combat so that they could use it later during the ceremony.

Ace and Luffy were jumping of joy and had spend the whole breakfast talking about it excited. Kidd was a general, he should know so much, should they ask for sword lessons? Archery? Wrestling? Law had only turned paler and paler as he imagined the other dispersing in his ear as he held a bow, gasping and panting over him as they fighted on the ground trying to gain the upper position.

He had quickly decided that it was best to run away from the problem, ignore it for the time being until he could find a plan of action. But locked in his room reading book after treaty of medicine, he was starting to get bored memorizing what he had already learned.

Until he decided to fucki it all.

What the hell was he doing? Why did he have to be hiding in his own house? It was absurd, he refused to let the other have so much control over his life. He wouldn't give him even that minimum power over him, it was something he wouldn't just allow. Nobody forced him to do anything he didn't want, and at that time, studying was what he least thing he wanted to do.

Closing the book on his hands, he got up from his bed deciding to leave his room in the direction of the stables. The room wasn't big, just a small place like everybody else had in the house, it had a little straw bed with some sheets, and a chest for him to put his books or clothes in. There were candles, a big window, and a little colorfull wool carpet on the floor. Nothing more and nothing less.

Law had never needed more.

Leaving the place and entering the corridor of the house trying to reach the yard were the little stables were situated next to the servants' house. He wanted to ride a while over his huge black stallion and get the redhead off his head. He would never recognize it but he was giving the general more space in his mind than he deserved.

When he finally reached the backyard, he heard the sound of swords with which his brothers were practicing with the idiot in the backyard. He groaned resignedly realizing then a small problem: He had to go through the training yard to get to the stables, he would have to see the bastard, to let the bastard observe him with all the consequences.

But he was done hiding.

Putting on a neutral face and pretending to be totally calm and bored, he ventured into the training yard not giving a single look at the men training in the sand with swords. He listened to Ace and Luffy's gasps as well as their grunts of frustration as the redhead only made instructive comments or let out a slight laugh at their futile attempts to hit him. Law could almost imagine the arrogant smile in his face and his eyes suddenly glued to his ass.

 _Pervert_.

Law walked quickly across the sand, feeling increasingly edgy when he hear the training stop at that precise moment. Shit, shit and more shit. He didn't want to see him, he didn't want to talk to him or listen to him. He wanted him gone. Or murdered. That would solve the whole problem.

Thank God nobody called for him, so when he arrived at the stables he sighed slightly relieved, but still, his pulse was beating a thousand times an hour, and his impenetrable mask had crumbled to dust.

He cursed.

Approaching his deep black stalion he stroked his head softly as the horse neighed happily to see him. They had given Pinguin to him when he was six years old and the horse was no more than a colt. They had grown up together and riding was one of their greatest pleasures. It was one of the few moments when he felt capable of doing what he wanted: galloping at full speed across the field, with the wind cutting off his breath and making his eyes cry thanks to the speed, with the gigantic horse flexing his powerful muscles under him and responding to his more little command.

It was pure freedom.

In addition Pinguin had never let anyone but Law mount him. He had thrown Luffy away more than once when the boy had insisted on riding him, throwing him several meters into the ground, and making it very clear who he belonged to. Law loved him.

So today Law saddled him quickly and led him out of the stable docilely, feeling like the horse also seemed to need to run and stretch his muscles desperately. The horse moved happily when he climbed on top of him, already ready to leave the house without being able to wait any longer.

But as always, the universe tended to laugh at his expense with a heavy black humor that drove Law crazy.

"Law, where are you going?" Murmured the old man approaching him next to the yard door, where the fence opened to the city.

Beside him, of course, was a sweaty Kidd who dedicated him his best mischievous smile. If he had looked good yesterday, with his golden shining armour, the man now looked just sinful, his hair messed, his muscles bulging after the exercise, the thin clothes molding to every line of his body thanks to the sweat...he looked as if he had just came out of bed after a pleasurable night. Law sighted trying to control his runaway emotions again. Just by seeing the redhead, a sense of anger, nervousness and rage had returned to fill him.

He looked at his grandfather, desperate to get out of there.  _He needed to breathe_.

"I'm taking a walk through the eastern mountain, I will return before dinner" he answered quickly.

His grandfather looked at him and nodded, after all, it was something he used to do often, the only thing the old man was doing was asking where he was going, to know where he could find him if something happened. However, Kidd, along with the universe, approached the old man with a fake worried face. Law frowned slightly knowing that it wasn't going to end well, but still his mouth didn't utter the slightest word.

"Weren't the bandits located there the other day?" Commented the redhead casually as if talking about the weather.

Garp nodded with a sudden frown of concern furrowing his face. Law grew pale knowing what the other was about to propose.  _The a son of a bitch_.

"You're right," said Garp with his damn overprotective tone emerging "Law, I don't think you should go alone, wait a moment, call one of the guards to accompany you" said the old man turning around and heading home again.

"No!" responded a pissed Law refusing to lose that little battle "I can defend myself without problems, I don't need a babysitter"

Garp gave him an angry look and Law clicked his tongue knowing what that meant. Now, there was no human or divinity that would make the old man change his mind. Stupid, stubborn, manipulable. Law hated militars.

"Law, you're going to go with a guard, or you are not going to go" said Garp.

Law stared at him for a while, rebellious. Garp ruled his house as he did his troops: kindly but firmly, without accepting insubordination. Pinguin shifted uncomfortably beneath him as he continued to glare at the old man, as if feeling Law's anger.

And then things got worse.

"If you want, I can go with him" the redhead offered kindly putting on the best innocent smile he could pretend "After all, I also wanted to ride"

It looks could kill, the general would be on the deepest part of the Ades with Law glare, however, Garp just laughed, delighted with the proposal, implying that he was accepting it. Eustass looked at Law with a triumphant glint in his eyes and Law came to the conclusion that he was going to kill that man. There was just no helping it now.

"Of course, of course," commented the old man, slapping the general on the back. "Who better than you to defend my nephew?"

"I do not need you to defend me," Law repeated through clenched teeth, impregnating every word with all the hate he was able to utter. But his grandfather seemed not to notice, and simply made a vague gesture with his hand urging him to leave the issue at once. He would not accept a replica from him.

Eustass disappeared instantly into the stables returning in a moment with a horse of an impressive pure white color that Law had not seen in his life and that he assumed would be the general's own horse.

"Well, I'll leave the rest to you, take care of my boy" said the old man finally turning his back and going to the house totally happy with the situation.

Law blinked incredulously. Was he not realizing that this man was even worse for him than the bandits? What could end up dishonoring him or shit like that? That was he offering him on a silver tray? Kidd gave him another arrogant satisfied smile as he mounted the horse, now with all innocence and pretense vanishing, as if to show him that he always got what he wanted. The dark glow that also crossed his eyes announced Law that he wasn't going to end totally alive.

Law ignored him putting on his neutral face and guided his horse to the exit. Pinguin shifted uncomfortably, but Law quickly controlled him with tense gestures. He established a quick gallop immediately leaving the house and trying to leave behind the redhead too, but to his disgrace the soldiers were trained riders, and the other catch up with him easily.

They crossed the city at a rapid gallop, scaring the villagers who went out at that hour to take a walk or to take advantage of the cool of the sunset. Someone cursed when he crossed his path like an arrow, but instantly they fell silent when they recognized who was following him at almost the same speed.

The houses passed by him quickly and after a while, began to be replaced by the olive trees and holm oaks of the fields that bordered the city, there, people were returning to their homes after a day of work in the camps and did not pay them much attention.

Law groaned in frustration, unable to relax with the other at his heels. Resigned he finally reduced the pace to a light trot without wanting to kill Pinguin from fatigue. The stallion trotted happily along the river that gave the air a light freshness and pleasant humidity. That day Pinguin was a bit weird and Law was having a hard time controlling him, but he blamed it in no riding him for a while.

Kidd stood to his right instantly.

"Are you still angry?" He asked amused. Law did not answer him, he was not going to talk to him. "Come on, I just wanted to go out on a ride with you, it's not the end of the world "

"And what makes you think I wanted your company?" Hegrunted despite its thoughts.

"Law, you will realize one day that I am better...company than you think" commented the other looking at him with a clear hint in his eyes.

Law glared at him with his best murderous stare, reviewing the different ways he knew of poisoning a person in his mind. Hemlock or arsenic? Which would be more painful?

"Get away from me" he said as he urged Pinguin to run again, the horse nodded annoyed but obeyed instantly.

Kidd laughed and quickly reappeared to his right without surrendering. Even so, he did not comment again and both continued with a gentle trot along the riverbank until they reached the west mount.

"Hey" Kidd suddenly called.

Law turned to see him mounted imposingly on his horse. Wearing the brown linen tunic of training and the protective leather breastplate. With his red hair shining wildly in the late afternoon sun and another smile that did not announce anything good.

Law frowned suspicious. He frowned even more as he keep noticing and focusing on the other's appearance. What the hell?

"How about a bet?" Kidd casually said, pointing to the path that rose in front of them to a small shrine on top of the hill.

He wanted a race.

"No," Law replied instantly. He didn't trust the redhead and something smelled bad in the whole thing, his instinct told him that he was playing with fire, and, as funny as it might be to leave the other crying on the floor, he wasn't an idiot.

Kidd on the other hand just smiled even more at his response.

"Not even if I promise you that if you win, I'll leave you alone until the ceremony ends?"

Law looked at him doubtfully again. Kidd's smile told him that it all had a trick, and also his brain kept screaming at him not to be an idiot, but the offer was too tempting and necessary.

He smiled arrogantly, returning the redhead one of his own smirks.

The redhead's eyes shone hungrily at his gesture, while his face became serious and calculating, like a predator thinking about the fastest way to jump on his prey. A chill of danger ran through the brunette making his blood run, but he kept his smile and his challenging eyes.

"What if I lose?" He commented, knowing that he, too, would have to give in to something.

Kidd's eyes shone again as he recovered from the period of surprise and again, he hid the intelligent and predatory look under a mask of stupidity and arrogance, that didn't fool Law.

"A kiss," Kidd answered without hesitation.

Law rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue, bored.

Did he really expect him to accept? How stupid he thought Law was? He didn't intend to give the other even the slightest chance with him, the farther away they were the better. He didn't trust the man, but to make things worst, his mind was also getting out of control.

He gave the redhead a look of annoyance and turned around quietly facing the road home, without even answering him.

"Although if you do not want it, that's fine for me" commented the other with a casual tone again hat made Law cringe "You know? Your grandfather wants me to train you too tomorrow for the fighting part of the test" he said in a bored tone.

That froze Law's blood. Again, his breakfast ideas came back, the swords, the bow, the wrestling. In a workout, physical contact was normal, even more between master and student, and that would give the redhead more than one chance to do what he wanted. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that he would not have much chance of resisting at what the other would want to do to him. Law knew how to defend himself, but the redhead was a general in the army, for god's sake, he trained every day thoroughly to defeat anyone.

Law clenched his fists with anger and impotence. The redhead was going to take any opportunity he had to tease him, and if he didn't have it, he would invent it as it had just happened.

"Okay," Law finally accepted with a tense jaw.

Slowly he drive his horse to the beginning of the road. The redhead stood by his side looking at him amused again. Law just ignored him and focused on his horse. Reclining on Pinguin, he tensed every muscle in his body and leaned over the seat to gain as much speed as he could.

He was going to win. Period. There was no other option.

"The first one that crosses the trees of the top, wins" said Kidd also seriously, no smiles, no huger, just plain focus "On the count of three"

Law took a breath.

"One" the redhead began to count.

Pinguin shifted uncomfortably with the sudden pressure in the environment.

"Two"

Law opened his eyes and focused on the goal, on the trees, on the small road to it, his mind totally focused.

"Three"

Law dug his heels into Pinguin's abdomen and the horse shot out. The world flew by his side as both horses climbed the hill at full speed. The helmets rattled in the sand alerting Law where Kidd was located, and he pressed Pinguin again to make him run even faster since he knew that the horse could give him much more.

However, he could not overtake the other, indeed, it seemed that he was falling behind. He returned to press Pinguin, but the horse did not obey. Pinguin slowed down his career further down and stood behind Kid's horse docilely, as if the mere act of overtaking him was unthinkable for him.

Law frowned. What the hell was wrong with him?

Alarmed he looked at Kidd as he moved further and further away from him. Winning. Reaching their goal.

And then he realized.

'Son of a bitch' he cursed mentally for the second time that day.

Kidd's stallion wasn't exactly a stallion. It was a mare. And in the middle of spring she would surely be in heat, turning Pinguin mad. How had he not noticed? Pinguin had been weird all afternoon, sending him signals every two minutes and he had ignored the poor animal just focusing on his own problems.

Fuck.

Kidd passed the trees that made the finish line and braked turning his horse in a maneuver that looked easy but that Law knew required to much skill. He sent Law a smile completely satisfied and triumphant. Like a conquer.

"You cheated," Law shouted, getting off the horse and facing the redhead from afar, furious. Mad. Still not daring to get near him.

"I do not know what you're talking about," Kidd answered, lowering himself from his horse too and sending him that arrogant smile that made it clear that he clearly did.

"Your mare is in heat" Law recriminated him from his position next to Pinguin, glaring the other to death.

"And?" Kidd said crossing his arms as he aproached "I thought you already knew when you accepted the bet, or have you not been paying attention to your horse as a good rider should do?"

Law clenched his jaw furiously knowing that, deep down, he was right, that it was his fault for being distracted, but at the same time, refusing to accept his mistake out of pride.

Kidd came even closer, and again, he backed him up against Pinguin's flank until Law was cornered and had no chance to escape. Law thought of kicking him again, but Kidd's hands rested on the sides of his head as they had the night before and Law froze. Kidd's face lowered to save their height. He stared at him. Seriously. Totally focused on him. With his eyes shining dangerously.

"I want my reward," he murmured huskily.

"Get fucked" Law replied paralyzed, anger, the stupid desire and shame shimmering together. Kidd caught his chin with one of his hands raising his mouth to his. law hold his breath.

Then, without giving him the slightest chance, Kidd leaned over him slowly, claiming what belonged to him.

Their lips brushed in a soft caress and Law closed his eyes tightly feeling the touch all over his body. At first it was like a warm breeze over his mouth, calm and even shy, tasting and caressing him delicately as if Law was the best thing in the world, something worthy of being eaten slowly. Then, Kidd pressed a little more into him, letting him feel his solid lips or the firmer touch, beginning to move over him teasingly. More demanding but still calm, as if he was thinking of the best way to eat him, as if he couldn't decide. Urging him slowly to open his mouth, luring, tempting, like water over starved lips.

Law resisted it, knowing that he owed the other a kiss, but refusing to give in completely.

Finally the tongue and teeth appeared. Kidd began licking at his lips, letting him feel his warm tongue against him, moistening his lips temptingly, biting him with his teeth gently and tugging increasingly insistent at the tender mouth. Law could feel his lips turning slightly sore and throbbing from the biting and sucking.

At the end, Law, slightly confused by the lack of air and without knowing how or why, ended up yielding and separating his lips giving the redhead a clear pass.

It was like opening the door to a flood.

He felt the wet tongue of the other moving over his instantly, as if he had been waiting for doing just that for a long time. Kidd devoured him hungrily, without leaving him a moment to breathe and making his lips begin to hurt even more thanks to the bites and nips. He took, he demolished, he conquered.

Kidd squeezed him then against the horse even more, and began to lick him tirelessly, tasting him and demanding of him the complete submission. Law tried to answer him with difficulty, fighting with the tongue that ran over his memorizing every corner, winning every battle, not letting him take control completely.

Law gasped in the kiss when Kidd bit him up again, harder, pissed. He was totally in need of air and his lungs hurt. He gasped again. And then, and only then, did Kidd move slightly away from him letting him breathe.

Their breaths crashed fast.

The redhead stared at him intently with the deep starved eyes while Law tried to recover and make the air return to his lungs. Kidd's eyes were red from the afternoon sun and they were absolutely fixed on his face, while his hand was still holding his chin firmly, beginning to trace the curve of his jaw with his fingers in a delicate but possessive caress.

"Do you want another one?" Murmured the redhead without a hint of sarcasm or mockery in his voice, simply looking at him with that strange intensity.

And then Law realized what face he should be wearing and what he would look like. Gasping, his lips red, his hair messed after the race, his eyes looking at him as intent and hungry as the others.

Striking himself mentally and hating himself for having responded, he instantly recomposed himself and went back to wear his mask of total indifference.

"No," he answered instantly, pussing the other aside, ignoring his still-altered breathing and his accelerated pulse. Kidd didn't say anything or tryed anything else, but he looked slightly disappointed. Only slightly

Fuck him.

"I'm going back," Law announced, breaking the strange silence that had settled between them.

The other simply gave him another hungry look but turned back to go get his horse. Then they both mounted and headed back to the house. In silence, without looking at the other.

As soon as they entered the stable, Law unsaddled Pinguin faster than he had ever done it and, still ignoring the other, he returned to lock himself in his room. Going out definitely had not been a good idea, he concluded. That night he didn't eat dinner either, he just stayed in his room trying to forget what had happened a few hours ago. Forgetting the taste of the other engraved like fire in his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What will Kidd do from now on? Will law survive? What would happen in the training? Why is Garp so oblivious?
> 
> See you guys


	3. Training

The next day found Law just wanting to sleep. He had spent all the previous night tossing and turning in bed thinking of a quick and easy way to get rid of the redhead. He had invented new more creative forms of murder, had thought of kidnapping and castrating him or even giving the redhead what he wanted for a damn time and ending up in his bed. Especially in finishing in his bed, moans and gasp mingling together as he felt the biggest pleasure in his life, as the other moved over him, inside him, making him...

He had not slept at all.

He cursed himself and his stupidity while the words in the medical book danced before his tired red eyes and he was unable to memorize a thing of them.

Surely the redhead would have slept blessedly without worrying about anything like the idiot he was, and now, fresh in the morning, he would be looking for the easiest way to fuck his life, mess with his head even more.

Law stirred in the already messes blankets of his bed trying to get away from the damn sun that was hurting his eyes. The room was a mess. Books and parchments all over the floor, clothes mingling with them, the blankets, the consumed oil lamps, the chaos, everything, just like Law himself felt.

He had known the redhead for only two days, but still, he had managed to turn Law life upside down.

At the beginning he had promised himself to ignore the redhead, let the problem go away, but now, he was suffering from insomnia just thinking about him. What was going on? He had never felt so...shaken for someone, he had never thought about falling in bed with another, he had felt so helpless. Something wrong was going through his head. Maybe stupidity was really contagious. Maybe it was just the nerves for the trial and he was confusing feeling of needed something to de-stress.

Yeah, that might be it. Law closed his book, deciding on going out and breathe a little. He needed just to stop thinking.

Suddenly, before he could get up, the small wooden door of his room flew open and a loud laugh filled the room along with an ominous shadow. Garp entered the place as Law head throbbed painfully with the loud sound. Facing the door, he gave the old man the most murderous look he could give, but the other, in his perfect own military world, didn't even realise it.

"Law, I will be waiting for you in the training camp in ten minutes" said the other with an intense stare "You can't study so much, the books will hurt your brain, it's not natural"

Law kept silent, staring at the old man already used to his superstitious mind. The old man however finally realised his pissed of look and Law changed tactics.

"It's for your own good, I do not want excuses Law, Eustass has already offered to train you and you should not miss this opportunity, not every day you can learn after a general"

Law cursed. He could almost sense the bastard's smirk in his mind. He had planned to go for a walk, to forget and meditate for a bit, but it was just the universe's time to fuck with him. He had heard the other comment on it the previous afternoon before the bet, _before the kiss_ , but he hadn't thought they were going to train seriously, it didn't make sense. Why would he want to learn something from the redhead?

"You are a commander, I could also train with you, I would learn more" he commented.

The old man laughed, but he was still looking serious. Law knew it was ridiculous. His grandfather was busy, as a commander, but Kidd should be busy too, the fact that he was making space in his day to train three boys should be considered a honour.

Knowing he had no choice, he got out of bed while the old man looked at him satisfied and left the room to let him change.

He quickly put on something harder and sturdy, than the light tunic he was wearing. The linen shirt also covered all the skin he needed, while allowing mobility and protecting him with the recorded leather. His training pants were tighter than he found comfortable, especially if he was going to train with the pervert, it had some decorations on the side and were tightened around the knee. But they were the best for fighting.

Nodding to himself, he finally left the room following his grand-dad.

When he arrived at the training yard, Ace and Eustass were training with the short swords, concentrated on disarming each other. They both were sweating in the cool morning heat and panting, inspecting each other seriously as wolves circling a prey. The sole scene would make people blush aroused from how perfect both men looked: young, brave, dangerous, it was what they all aimed for, what all men and woman looked for in a lover.

Like gods.

Garp, on one side of the field, gave two loud warning claps when he saw Law finally arriving, and both fighting men turned to look at him in sync, as if they were already used to receiving orders. As all military ended up doing after so many years.

Ace would make a perfect soldier.

"Ace, that's enough" said the old man to the clearly exhausted teen "Now it's Law's turn"

Ace growled something low, displeased with the decision, but still, he went to the fountain in the courtyard to cool, leaving Kidd standing in the middle of the courtyard painting, sweating and looking a bit surprised.

Kidd made a gentle bow of respect to the old man before the man left the place, and then he gave Law an amused, pleased look. As if he couldn't believe he had come here on his own, but had expected nothing more. Ignoring him, Law approached the arena where the red-haired man waited for him.

"Is Law going fight?" Asked Luffy, his younger carefree brother, Law hadn't have seen sitting against the fence of the courtyard until that moment.

Ace nodded, as he seated next to Luffy to observe the fight, his hair now dripping wet, and a wild smile appearing in his face.

"Nice," Luffy gasped, his eyes fixing on the two opponents in the sand, excited.

' _Yeah nice, spectators_ ,' Law thought as he watched his brothers smile at him. This was going to be painful, although the truth was that Law was curious to know how the redhead was going to take advantage of him now.

"How do you want to fight, boy?" Asked the redhead without any with a strange mocking and politely tone, as if he too was aware of the eyes and wanted to behave.

Law looked at him suspiciously.

"I don't care" he commented, shrugging and ignoring the tone of mockery in the words.

"What about swords?" The other asked.

Law nodded bored and then turned to Ace to get the sword the other had been fighting with. There weren't so many swords at home, despite being a military family, they were expensive, for what they represented and for the iron they were made with.

Ace gave it without complaint, almost with a reverential respect. Both he and Luffy looked at him expectantly, anxiously and Law sighed tiredly. Uneasy. Okay, maybe it had been a lot of time since he had fought with them. Maybe his style was...a bit different.

Placing himself again in front of the redhead, in the middle of the field and under the stitching sun. He slightly raised the blade, noting the knowing weight of the sword in his hand, the roughed surface, the cold metal.

The redhead looked at him strangely, amused. "You know at least that a sword is supposed to be caught with both hands, don't you?"

Law watched his brothers smile wickedly and he faked a tense smile, ignoring his anger. The general was not the first one who had underestimate him thinking that, like many other scholars, he didn't know how to handle a sword.

Law was going to have a lot of fun.

"Stop giving me orders and just attack," he replied pretending to be an spoiled little kid.

The redhead shrugged, smiling at him with that smile that did not announce anything good.

"You'll learn the hard way then"

The redhead stepped forward, raising his sword and then dropping it into the most basic movement of all fencing. It pissed Law a lot. How idiotic did the other think he was he couldn't defend to that? Then he had to contain a laugh when he saw how easy it would be to prove him otherwise.

He watched the sharp blade of the other as it descended on him and when he was at the right point he feinted. He leaned back, resting the weight of his body on one of his heels and turned as the other's blade passed behind him, breaking the air where his head had been seconds ago. When the strong blow failed, the redhead lost his balance and he fell forward. The only thing Law had to do next was to spin back on his heel while raising his arm, and suddenly, his blade was easily resting on the other's throat.

Kid held his breath in surprise as his brothers chucked and smiled amused. Law basked in the little victory.

"How did you say a sword was held?" He gloated, pressing the steel harder against the other's neck.

The other looked at him, with a now forced smile on his face, and a dark look on his eyes. He was pissed, Law realized even happier.

"Kidd!" his grandfather squealed angrily, approaching them. Reappearing on the field as if he had been waiting just for this, as if he had known what Kidd would do. Apparently, his job wasn't as important as correcting one of his generals.

Law lowered his sword confused and both faced the man.

"Kidd, I thought that, as a general, you would not commit the stupidity of underestimating your opponent, but I guess I was wrong and I've been overestimating you all this time"

Kidd lowered his head frowning and tightening his grip on the sword. The arrogant and arrogant smile had disappearing. Law was tempted to smile. This would prove him what happened when he was such an idiot, the consequences he would have.

"I'm sorry sir"

"Do you understand that in a real battle you might have ended up dead?" The commander continued. Kidd nodded tense. Garp sighed tiredly "It's a warning boy, don't ever do something like this again or I would rethink your position"

Then without pretending to have something else to do, he went back to where Luffy and Ace were, and observed them too.

Law looked at the other, smiling broadly with a satisfied look. This was going much better than expected, maybe he should have faced the other sooner. Kidd returned a furious look.

"Happy?" Kidd whispered, low and furious, preventing the others from listening to their conversation.

"A bit" Law answered in the same soft murdering tone "Unfortunately, you're still alive"

"I'm going to make you cry and beg on your knees" the other said with a wild smirk.

"I'd like to see you trying" Law answered in a heartbeat.

Both returned to the starting positions coordinated, as if they have done these a hundred times together.

This time the fight was different and Law was unable to contain the fast and lethal blows of the other. He backed up through the sand slightly surprised by the redhead's change of attitude. Kidd no longer smiled arrogantly, but a serious and calculating look was present in his eyes giving him the look a general should have: powerful, cold and lethal. Like yesterday when Law had smiled back at him. Predatory. Law could not help but cringe at his strength.

Kidd was a good fighter, Law had to end up recognizing. The sword of the redhead cut the air as if it were an extension of his body, almost effortless and as precise as a needle. Law knew the hours of training the other should have endured to achieve such a level of skill. The commitment, the self-sacrificing.

To be a Greek soldier was already hard, the training only fitted for the better, people died on some the training, some ended up wishing for such a good dead. It was a training some considered inhumane, cruel, but it was what needed to be done, they weren't the best elite army in the world for nothing. Kidd was a general. The things he should have done, the amount of pain, effort and self-discipline he should have endured would end up with many. Physical and mentally.

Suddenly, Kidd stopped looking as bad, stupid and childish as before.

In addition, now that he thought about it, through their interactions, Law had seen that the other was intelligent. He planned, strategized and conquered. Even now on the fight he measured and calculated each of his movements, he read Law before he even knew what he was going to do, disarming his defences easily, moving around him elegantly, as a king courting his knight.

When Kidd's sword hit his chest, it felt as the final move of a dance. As if they have been moving toward just this part. It almost looked right, as if Kidd had been destined to win.

Law frowned confused, aware of the awed look he should be wearing, but still unable to shake off the feeling surprise and sudden respect he felt for the redhead. What had happened?

"Widen your legs a bit more" commented the other without looking at him, still in that businesslike state of focus.

"Huh?" Law asked confused without understanding what the other was suddenly saying. Then, he remembered the other was supposed to train him. "Ah yes, sorry".

The other gave him a strange look before lowering his sword, and turning to go back to the starting position, in the middle of the field. Law followed him. His mind still blurred. Their audience kept silence, or if they talked Law didn't hear them, he was just focused on his body, on his tired muscles on how his body seemed to have betrayed him to let Kidd win.

The fight had been so ethereal, so quick and right. _So weird_. As if they had been born to fight together. Law had never felt something like this. He didn't know if he liked it.

Kidd eyes, in front of him, searched his face as if looking for some kind of anger, or another reply full of dark sarcasm. Law however felt numb, exposed, awed. Kidd smiled. Not the arrogant or the mocking smile he always used to annoy or make him lose his cool, but a normal and ordinary smile.

It looked good on him. Very, very good, Law conceded.

And so, they continued the training. Without a word, without a command, as if them both shared a conscience. Moving against the other, separating before colliding again.

Curiously, the other didn't take advantage of him except for a strange touch here or there or some odd comment against his ear that made Law's mouth dry. As if this moment was important for them both.

The worst thing had been when the other had insisted on teaching him a movement he hadn't know, by standing behind him and wrapping his arms around him. Law had tried not to blush or panic before his family when the redhead had begun to touch more than he needed pretending that everything was necessary to show him the swipe with the damn sword. Law had been caught between his arms, totally immobilized, and not being able to do anything as Kidd caressed his abs over his shirt to put him in position, or squeezing him tightly against his body supposedly helping him keep his balance, his breath against his neck, his hips against his ass, his hands around his wrist...

"Stop" Law had hissed between his teeth, trying to separate himself from the sweaty rock-hard torso at his back and from the arms that wrapped around him possessively.

The other had only tightened his body around him without letting him escape, and at the same time, letting him feel his erection rub against his backside.

Oh God.

"Not happening boy" he had whispered against his ear again, making Law shudder when he felt the cold breath against his sweaty skin "This is called revenge" and moving with him in the supposed blow Law was learning, he simulated a strong thrust against his butt that through the fine clothes he could feel perfectly.

Law had felt his face burn with embarrassment as the sword slipped from his hands to fall pathetically to the ground. His family had looked at him surprised while the redhead has smirked back with that annoying arrogant smile. He was going to kill him, slowly and painfully, so so painfully.

In their next fight he attacked the redhead and made him step back four long steps.

But otherwise, it had gone well. The redhead was a good teacher and showed him the flaws in his position, how to correct them or how to take advantage of them. After their little games and plays they quickly felt into a pattern and started having a normal training session. They flighted, they practised, Kidd explained some tactical moves, Law argued a few ones, and they kept training. Law learned more than he had believed possible.

When the sun reached its peak, and they both were exhausted, Law went to the fountain on the back to drink some water and wipe off the sweat and dirt. Kidd also followed him to refresh himself, or so Law hoped.

"You're a good fighter" the redhead suddenly said as he pulled his head from under the cold-water spray.

"And you are crazed. Have you thought about going to a doctor and have it looked at?" he replied sarcastically.

"I mean it" the other commented pissed, with the same tone Garp also used sometimes when Law keep insisting on being a doctor "Have you thought about getting into the army?"

"No, I like medicine" he answered truthfully. Kidd simply shrugged, annoyed, frustrated. "By the way, thanks, for the lesson"

Not matter how much it pissed Law. He had learned a lot. It wasn't easy to find such a good master.

Kidd stared at him seriously for a moment as if wondering if this was a trick, but finally he smiled again with that normal, warm smile. The one that made Law nervous for some reason.

"You are welcome" but then his eyes shone and his voice lowered two octaves into that dark sultry tone "But give them to me when you walk out my bed. Although I don't know if you will really be able to walk"

Law glared at him again, would be stop for once? What had he done to deserve this. Kidd just laughed amused as he headed back inside the house.

...oOo…

In the afternoon after taking a long bath in the public baths of the neighbourhood Law decided to accompany Ace to the permanent market of the town. It was something that both did every week although they didn't need anything in particular, it was more like a relaxing walk.

The hustle and bustle of the port along with the vendors shouting their merchandise at the top of their lungs from the stalls was something they had lived with all his life and brought back memories of when they ran around the stalls causing chaos with his brothers or running away from the pissed-off salesman. The smells of the spices, the colouring of the fabrics, the women whispering under their breath was something that distracted them and kept their mind occupied.

It was something they both needed desperately right now.

Raising his hand, Law greeted one of the vendors at the vegetable stand and watch Ace analyse with a critical eye a dangerous-looking dagger and a curved blade. His brother, like him, had a tired face and dark circles around his eyes.

"Hey Ace, what do you think of the new general?" he asked without being able to avoid thinking about the idiot they had at home.

Ace looked at him out of the corner of his eye, twirling the dagger between his hands and watching the golden hilt. It did not seem like he was paying enough attention to the object and the salesman again forced a smile knowing deep down that they were not going to buy it.

"I don't know, he seems nice," he replied, dragging his words, and not giving Law much attention either, "He's pretty good with the sword."

Law sighed. For Ace everyone who was good with the sword was a good guy. He grunted hating for a moment the simple mind of his brother. Of his Grandfather. Of the military. Why the hell had he asked the question in the first place? What did he care? Kidd was no one, he shouldn't care.

The truth is that he didn't know what to think about the redhead. Could he trust him or not? On the one hand he always ended up pissed by his arrogant attitude and the fixation Kidd had for him, however morbid and exciting as that might be, he understood that the other was a good general, someone who could be trusted, and who was in charge of thousands of men. That had to be worth something, right? Besides, he had not taken advantage of him beyond the kiss, although he had had thousands of opportunities.

He closed his eyes tired of doing nothing but thinking about the other. Ace stared at him.

"Law what's up?" He asked worried.

Law sent him a half-faked smile playing dumb. "Nothing"

Ace left the dagger in its place in the store and the salesman sighed tiredly. Turning to Law he grabbed his arm with a worried look.

"You know you can tell me"

Law frowned looking at the floor without really knowing what to tell him. He did not understand exactly what was bothering him, or why he was suddenly so anxious. He did not know what answer he was looking for when the other asked. Tired of turning things around so much in his head, he simply closed his eyes and forced himself to stop thinking.

"Nothing, really, it's nothing"

Ace nodded softly, knowing Law was lying but giving him the space he needed to think and clear his mind up. When he was ready, he would let go and speak, they both knew and respected the process. It had always been like this.

They returned home hours later with empty hands and the dust of the town impregnating their clothes and sandals. They were stiff and tense both physically and mentally, despite having performed the 'market ritual' that always relaxed then. They walked silently side by side with their minds far away, shuffling along the sandy path.

Then slowly, the calm of the evening and the light freshness that accompanied it, began to relax the two boys making them forget for a moment the pressure of the test they would have in a few days. It even left them more exhausted, as if all the fatigue and tension that had been contained suddenly had fell on their already exhausted muscles.

When arriving at the house his grandfather was waiting for them both already seated in the table with the dinner prepared by the servants and already served on the plates.

Luffy argued loudly with the redhead at one end of the table, about what kind of weapon would be the best in a naval battle. Law tired didn't hesitate to sit on the opposite end fleeing the curious look of the red-haired man. He looked at Ace by his side who looked the same or even more exhausted than he was, his brother kept playing with the food on his plate without eating anything and nodding dangerously on it.

Law soon realized that he was doing exactly the same thing. The two adults were looking at them worriedly exchanging a few looks, but they did not comment and let them eat in peace.

The redhead didn't try anything under the table except for the occasional kick when Law began to fall asleep, keeping him awake and showing him that he was paying attention to him. Law thanked the detail even though his shin was beginning to hurt and he wondered if the other was just doing it on purpose. Ace on the other hand had finally fallen round on his plate of food.

When dinner ended and they all stood, Ace and him, quickly walked like dead men to their respective rooms muttering a few incomprehensible words as goodbye to the others.

Law was finally reaching his own blessed room yawning painfully, when he crossed paths again with the redhead in the hallway. He cursed under his breath. This time he won't be able to fight him if the other tried something, he didn't think he would be able to scream.

The redhead approached him with his eternal smirk, however and against all odds, the other just step by his side and ruffled his hair affectionately, possessively. Law didn't resist it, he didn't have the strength. He just looked at Kidd stunned and confused because the other hadn't try anything for once.

"Do you want me to accompany you to your dear bed? Or do you prefer me taking you to mine that is closer?" He whispered with a clear hint in his voice.

Law looked at him tired. There was what he had been waiting for, how could he have doubted him for a moment?

"Go fuck yourself," he pronounced with difficulty, feeling the words stick to his tongue annoyingly.

The redhead laughed amused but weakly, as if he was actually worried about Law's state before anything. He kept caressing his hair as if that was his new entertainment, as if he couldn't take his hands off him.

Suddenly he leaned down and gave him a chaste kiss on the forehead. Law blinked stunned.

"Sleep well Law, I will see you tomorrow" he whispered with his face inches from his, but without doing anything else.

When Law reached his room alive he couldn't believe it. Thankfully, that night Law slept soundly, thinking of the redhead's tantalizing bed and his warm lips on his forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see things are getting on their way, Law is begining to trust Kidd, still there is a lot that has to happen, we will see what they would do when they do to the termal baths together to prepare for the damn trial~
> 
> My favourite part it's comming, and I will make you all cry~


	4. Nerves

Today was the last day before the test and both, Law and Ace, couldn't stand still. The next morning they would have to go to the temple. They would spend all morning praying and asking the god to help them overcome the trial. They would go to the coliseum to, finally, after years preparing and training, perform the damned test.

The next night they would all know what they would do for the rest of their lives, good or bad, and of course, they would lose themselves in the huge and chaotic party, or cry in tears as his life ended.

_So much tension._

Law had spent the last two days thinking about everything that could go wrong and how he could correct it. He had thought of scenarios, of catástrofes, or he worst thing that could happen. He had never been a positive guy.

In the mornings he had practiced with his brothers the physical part of the test, swords, archery, riding, even naval training -they were Greeks after all, the best sailors of the Mediterranean- The redhead sometimes joined those sessions too giving them useful advice,explaining new tactics, correcting a posture. In the afternoons however, Law locked himself in his room and devoured book after book, parchment after parchment, leaving the night to try recover so he would be able to repeat the same routine the next day.

It was killing him. The tension, the pressure, the unknown. Thankfully, Kidd had ignored him this last two days. Nothing had happened between them, they hadn't spoken, talked or argued. As if the redhead understood that the test was important for him and was giving him his space and time to prepare. Even though, he still didn't take his eyes off him, and that kept Law uneasy. Nervous. Even more than he already was.

Law was just about to explode. Ace...well, he seemed to have exploded a few hours ago.

Right now they were all in the public's baths of the neighborhood, a small building made of dark brown stone with several rooms and pools for the people. As every Greek bath it had a cold room, with water so cold you couldn't stay more than a few minutes, there was the hot one, with boiling water that make your skin red. Baths with salts, healing herbs, sacred fruits...and steam, steam everywhere making it look a bit more private.

His family longed on the room next to him. Ace had passed out on the warm pool next to Luffy, he didn't move, he didn't talk, he looked pale. Luffy was poking him worried, but Law knew his brother was in a state of shock he himself was also approaching. Garp, as a man, as a warrior, had gone to the boiling water pool in the other room.

Law just sat practically naked on one of the stone benches of the place among the steam. He didn't want to get into the water, he didn't trust his mind and body right now and didn't want to end up drowning as Ace seemed to be doing. Instead he went back to repeat for the eighteenth time the names of the muscles of the hand and to which tendons were attached. He had refused at first to go to the hot springs, there was still so much to study, so much to review, but the old man had dragged him out of his room, telling him that he already knew all the damn books and that studying them again wont do him any good.

It was true. He was pushing himself to exhaustion, taking a moment and relaxing would do him good. He also knew that since he had to go to the temple tomorrow, he had to purify himself, a bath, a shave, a special diet for such a sacred place, but Law couldn't help it, _he had to study. Tomorrow was the test_.

He sighed tense. Ok, he was beyond nervous, right now he was about to suffer a panic attack and die in the thick cloud of smoke as Ace was doing. His breathing pattern accelerated, his head began to hurt. He frowned, scared as his mind confused the fifth muscle in the list with the sixth.

He was going to fail. He won't become a doctor, he would lose everything he knew, he...suddenly there was a movement to his right and Law turned to see a now familiar redhead.

Kidd sat beside him, as naked as Law himself except for the cloth that covered their crotch. The fact that they had ended up naked in the same room, and Law hadn't noticed it until now, was a statement of how well his brain was working. This was dangerous, he still didn't trust this man.

He cursed in self-deprecation over the whole situation.

Still, he couldn't stop the fine hairs on his neck rising when he felt the other suddenly so close to him, almost skin against skin, releasing that numbing and comforting heat between the water vapor. His mind instantly forgot what he was trying to memorize and his senses focused on the redhead at his side, his breath slowed, his body relaxed. As if now that Kidd was here he could finally lower his guard.

It didn't had any sense.

If he had thought that the redhead was fine, naked he was even glorious. It was like the statues of the temple that represented the Greek gods, with that pale and soft skin now covered by a light layer of moisture that made it shine appetizingly. The muscles of his torso were completely defined thanks to the training, making Law's eyes lose themself among the curves wanting to know how far they went. His red scarlet hair was now falling disorderly over his forehead without the bandana holding it up, and it looked so soft and exotic that Law just wanted to dip his fingers in it as he allowed the man to devour his mouth like the last time.

Law hit himself mentally.

Law tried to control his traitorous eyes, because the worst of it all was that the redhead also knew how attractive he was, and did nothing to make Law's rejections easier. The man kept sending him those arrogant smiles when the Law stared at him for longer than necessary. He stretched with a wicked move that showed his impressive eyes everytime Law was near. He had even...Law had needed to control himself so he wouldn't break the asshole's perfect face more than once.

So today, Law closed his eyes refusing to look at the temptation the other represented, knowing that if he dedicated him even a quick soft glance, it would increase Kidd ego to impossible levels. According to Law, the other already had the ego of a thousand of kings.

"You know, I never thought I'd see you naked so fast" the redhead began tirelessly, stretching next to him as if he knew what that did to Law.

"That's okay, I didn't expect the old man to adopt you as his kid neither" he said, alluding to the fact that the redhead now seemed to live in his house as if he had been born there "Should I start calling you brother?"

Kidd laughed and his laughter rumbled softly in the suddenly silent room. Wait a moment, where was everyone? Opening an eye he realized that his brothers should have already gone to the pool of cold water, Ace needing to stimulus to wake up,leaving him alone with the redhead.

Shit.

"I don't think so, I'm not very fond of incest" said Kidd's voice suddenly in his ear, making goosebumps crawl over his skin.

Law gasped. When had he approached so much? Shit, he had lowered the guard two miserable minutes, only two miserable minutes! and he already had the other on top of him. Law tried to separate from him but realized that on the other side of the bank, he had a column preventing him from fleeing. He swallowed uncomfortably, knowing what would surely come next and feeling a lump in his stomach. Anticipation? I just _couldn't_ be.

"Then leave me alone" he answered arrogantly pretending that nothing was happening. Feeling proud when his voice didn't shake in the least "Tomorrow is the test" he added quickly trying to distract the other from himself.

"I know," was what Kidd just said, ignoring his tactics. Getting even closer and backing him further against the stone wall.

He was so close. Law was so tired. Kidd felt so warm and safe at his side, a wall protecting him from everything.

Suddenly, he felt Kidd's fingers brush his collarbone. Delicately, almost without touching him, as if he had been unable to stop himself, but was also barely containing himself from doing more. Law found himself paralyzed, as an animal does when it is about to run, to submit. Kidd noticed it, and softened the movement, tracing the muscles, the bones, the small drops of water over his skin, but Law didn't relax, but just tensed even more at the redhead's softness.

Law felt Kidd's trembling against his ear, desire and control in the little gasps. His fingers began to descend down his chest gently making small and timid circles, almost as if afraid to break him with the slightest touch, but at the same time fearing to stop touching him.

Law noticed how the fingers descended even more, to his stomach. Touching him, but not touching him, only letting him feel the redhead's rough fingertips against his hot, wet and overly sensitive skin after bathing in the boiling water.

Law closed his eyes. Forgetting everything. Relaxing. Concentrating only on the precious caress for a little moment. His breathing began to accelerate almost imperceptibly as the long, strong fingers continued to play, to follow the lined of his abs. As if they were memorizing him slowly, separating for a few seconds as if hesitating, but always coming back hungry of him skin.

The redhead at his side looked to be having a worse time than him, he was now breathing heavily, tension radiating from his body, as if it was taking him more and more effort to control himself. Seeming as if the mere act of watching Law like this, of touching him in such a little way, was arousing him more than it should.

Their bodies were now so close that they could feel each other's reaction without needing to touch or speak at all. The only connection between them were the slight friction that Law felt in his belly, the little touches, the soft caresses. However it felt like they were sharing much more. When the fingers descended the last part, coming to stand softly against the edge of the cloth that wrapped around Law waist, both stopped expectantly, waiting, breathless.

The silence of the room felt oppressive.

Suddenly, the redhead moved abruptly against him, making Law contain a surprised gasp, a little jump.

Kidd's warm breath fluttered hungrily against Law's neck, but again, he didn't touch him, as if holding back at the last moment before pouncing on him. God, this game was killing him.

Before he knew it, Law was tilting his head back, with his eyes closed, and his breath escaping his lips in hard pants. Exposing his neck even more to the warm breath of the other, offering himself completely to Kidd's expectant mouth.

Kidd drew closer, until Law could feel the heat that his lips gave off inches away from where his pulse beated, with his huge strong body wrapping around him, but denying the friction. Law held his breath expectantly, with the other's mouth suspended over his unprotected neck.

Until he whimpered hoarsely not standing it anymore.

Kidd groaned in response and the sound felt like the roar of a beast, reverberating against Law's skin, causing a chill of pleasure go directly to his groin, but returning him to the real world.

"Stop provoking me, boy" the redhead hissed angrily, separating himself from him with a frown and a dark look.

Law looked at him confused. What had he been about to do? Trembling still from the sensations, frustrated by his own reactions, he rose from the spot where they had been, unable to remain imprisoned between that man and the wall.

"I'm going to...the cold pool and…" he felt his voice weak, breathless, and that pissed him off. He had never felt so weak and vulnerable before and definitely, he didn't like it. Especially he didn't like it if it was because of Kidd, the idiot. Why him?! He just couldn't understand it! He began to walk trying to get away as he always did.

"Wait" the redhead quickly called standing up too, but Law simply ignored him and walked faster "Stop fleeing from me terrified!" the redhead said raising his voice with an angry tone.

That finished with Law's huge patience. Stopping suddenly before the door of the next room, he turned facing the redhead behind him.

"I am _not_ terrified. I am _not_ fleeing from you, Eustass Kidd. I am just going to the damn frozen pool" he explained with a firm and pissed voice, happy at seeing his strength returning to it "So stop believing you are the center of my universe, and leave me fucking alone"

Kidd looked at him raising a surprised eyebrow at his outburst.

"Okay" he said shrugging it off as it it was nothing, making Law want to punch him again "Still, I want you to know that I'm not going to do anything to you, you don't want" he assured him.

This time it was Law's turn let out a skeptical laugh. Did the general thought he was stupid?. Kiddhuffed closer to him.

"Shut up and listen" he said as if this was really important "I'm not going to try anything, at least until the ceremony finishes. I know it's important to you and I don't want to fuck with your life" he explained quickly with a serious look "But if you keep provoking me all the fucking time, it's a bit difficult for me to control myself, so stop"

Law looked at the redhead without knowing whether to laugh or get angry. Maybe he should just punch him.

"Well, how noble of you to worry about me in that way Eustass" Kidd glared at him "But just so you know, I _never_ provoked you"

Kidd raised his skeptical eyebrow again.

"Of course" he said sarcastically "You _never_ did"

"It's the truth" Law reaffirmed crossing his arms over his chest and looking at the other as if he was the worthless thing on earth.

"And the face you put on when I kissed you? Was it not a provocation?" Kidd reminded him, smiling again arrogantly at the memory.

"No, it was a face of disgust and horripilation," Law said with a neutral face.

"Yeah. Of course" Kidd said with a tone that indicated he didn't believe a word "...and the looks during the training?"

"Of hate and murderous instincts?"

Kidd laughed amused, amazed, as if he couldn't believe all this. But then he approached him again, in three quick and confident steps, until their faces were almost touching.

"And the moan from before?" Kidd asked, staring at him, lowering his tone and using that hoarse voice that made Law tremble when imagining it in another situation.

Law swallowed hard trying to keep his face serious but not knowing what excuse to invent. He still felt the other's breath burning on his neck and his pulse accelerated by what had just happened.

Kidd eyes looked at him knowingly. What had he just done?

"Don't talk to me" he finished, looking away from the other with a frown.

Kidd laughed again, in that confident, pridefully way that annoyed him but that Law couldn't imagine in another man. But before Law could answer, Kidd grabbed his wrist and pulled him down the hallway to where the cold pools and his family where.

"Whatever you wanna think, but tomorrow, after the party, I'm going to make you beg me to fuck you" he started in a low privet tone "I'm going to make you scream so loud that even the gods will hear you. I'm going to give you the biggest orgasm of your life, until you would just came from remembering it"

"I doubt it" Law answered not surrendering yet, but still feeling something stir in his stomach at Kidd's words.

"I do not," the redhead answered, confidently and seriously without even turning to look at him, speaking almost to himself.

Law felt his legs tremble.

...oOo...

Law was lying on his bed looking at the starry sky through his window. As yesterday he couldn't sleep, he still had too much to review, what if he had forgot something? What if he was missing something to study? He couldn't sleep and he hated being wasting time when he could continue studying.

Stretching through the blankets, he located the small oil lamp, lighting it instantly with the flint. The dim light flooded the room showing thousands of parchments and books scattered on the floor in total chaos. He had taken books from the old man library, he had taken books from the temple, the assembly, neighbours...they all mixed now in his room.

He grabbed the one closest to him, one of Galen, the gladiators doctor, and began to read it, sitting against the wall, but before he could finish the first page a voice took him out of his entertainment.

"I knew you'd be awake"

Lifting his eyes from the book, he looked at Kidd who was watching him amused from the other side of the window, leaning on the stone casually. Law looked at him surprised, he closed the book with a bang, rose from the messed bed, and glared at him.

"What are you doing here?"

Kidd smiled at him in response and, putting his hands on the edge of the window, he jumped up and entered his room, falling on his bed easily. He frowned.

"What kind of shit is this? How can you live in this chaos?" He said lying his back against the wall and stretching his long legs between the blankets as if he owned the place. He even took a book before huffing horrified and letting it fall back to the floor.

Law simply kept glaring at him in deep silence.

" _What are you doing here?"_ He repeated, impregnating the words of poison.

Kidd smirked. In that way that didn't meant anything good. Then, before Law could do anything, with a speed he hadn't seen in him before, Kidd moved on the bed, grabbed his wrist and pushed him into the bed with him. Strong arms wrapped around his waist as Law felt himself being engulfed by the other's heat.

Kidd petted his hair.

"I just want to sleep with you, relax, I'm not going to eat you" he said seriously with his mouth pressing a soft kiss on his head "At least not today"

Law frowned again. Not understanding a thing and not daring to move. What was happening? Was this a new trick? Should he punch him? Scream for help?

"Are you drunk?" he asked, talking into the others chest as Kidd's hands kept petting him, stroking his hair and neck as if Law was a cat.

Kidd gave a lazy laugh and squeezed him even harder in his huge arms, moving on the bed until they were both lying together, Law on top of him.

"No, I'm not." Then stretching out, Kidd turned off the oil lamp with two fingers.

"What do you think you're doing?" Law finally hissed in anger. At the sudden invasion of his privacy and the freedoms the other took with him,at this sudden assault. He had to study!

"Go to bed, Law, you need sleep," the other commented, nuzzling back next to Law.

"No, I need to study" he said indignantly trying to get free from Kidd's arms and turn the lamp on again.

Kidd snorted, and catching his hands, he turned them on the bed, so Law could just lay there and do nothing. Law went to protest, to insult him and to kick him out of his room if it was needed, but the redhead interrupted him.

"Law, tomorrow you have a test and you need to sleep" Kidd murmured, pressing against his body even more, his hands petting him in a way that was making him sleepy.

Law hugged him back without realizing it, passing his arms through the strong back of the other, and sinking his head into his chest. He felt safe, comfortable, he didn't dare moving, even when he realized what he was doing. His nerves began to fade instantly, and fatigue suddenly fell on him threatening to make him fall into unconsciousness.

"If you don't get out of my room I'll scream" Law threatened him one last time, but wishing internally that the other stayed with him.

It surprised him. This whole night was surprising him. But he was beyond caring now. He was so tired.

Kidd laughed and Law could feel the vibration in the muscles of his chest. A large hand began to make small drawings on his back, relaxing him even more and causing him to slowly fall apart in his arms.

Kidd kept petting him. He seemed to want to go map his skin, memorizing every line of his body, feeling him glued to his back. Both were wearing the typical nightwear that consisted of nothing but a thin tunic that left nothing to the imagination. Kidd caressed him with veneration, taking advantage of each of the openings of the fabric to caress his naked skin gently, squeezing gently, running his fingers through his legs and back while Law slowly fell asleep.

"Law" Kidd called him, sounding almost as asleep as he was.

Law looked up sleepily and the other's lips pressed against his suddenly. Softly. Law replied instantly, without a hesitation now, savoring those lips with which he had been dreaming since the last time, with hunger and a slight laziness.

Kidd raised a hand caressing his cheek with his thumb and tangling his fingers in the hair behind his ear. Law sighed, sticking closer against the redhead and deepening the kiss more, eager again feel the other's tongue against his. Kidd however stopped him gently, beginning to spread soft kisses across his face, on his eyelids, on his forehead, on the edge of his mouth, almost reverently.

"Calm down" he said when he saw Law trying to rejoin their mouths almost as if in a trance "I promise you that tomorrow we will do whatever you want, Law, but now you need to sleep"

Law murmured something intelligible against his mouth, now more in Morpheus' arms than in this world, and Kidd smiled, falling himself into a deep sleep too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now the fic begins, the next chapter will be the first part of the trial, the temple. Tecnically I wanted to do just one but I got out of hand, still, I hope you guys can enjoy it. In the next chapter someone important would make it's entrance.
> 
> So what you think? would law be able to enter into medicine? would he go to the army with Kidd?...


	5. The Trial: Temple part

The next morning Law woke up completely wrapped in Kidd's arms under the thin bed sheets. The sun was still far from illuminating the world, the birds hadn't even started singing, but he didn't care. For a while, he enjoyed the pleasant feeling of just lying there, relaxed, lazy, surrounded by the other's warmth, the strong chest behind him giving him a sense of protection and security that he had never felt before.

He could get used to this.

However, the scream that had awakened the first time him sounded again breaking the silence and peace of the moment. Ace. He was shouting something from the other end of the house and it sounded scary, terrifying, full of anxiety and despair. Law blinked confused, trying to process what was going on. Why was Ace shouting as if he was being killed? Where they under attack?

Finally, he remembered what day it was.

Pushing the other's arms away from around his waist, Law jumped out of bed and began to panic like Ace, who was still shrieking at the top of his lungs, seemed to be doing too. He heard Kidd at his back murmuring a curse in his sleep, beginning to wake himself up too, but Law paid no attention to him.

Instead he searched in the chaos of their room for the stupid colourful plaid they had to wear for the ceremony. The skirt was of a deep blue colour, with silver embroidery glistening at the seams. It was the typical colour worn by the people of the temple, and it was also how people would recognize the participants of the ceremony. It was tradition, a gift, even so, Law hated the clothe. The dark garment left _nothing_ to the imagination, short, made of a soft fabric that curled around his curves, it was degrading, so without hesitation, Law began to look for some pants to wear under it too.

His room was a mess, it took him several minutes to locate just the plaid, but finally, he found the cloth under the mountain of books next to the window. The pants had been hanging from a corner of his bed. He pulled them out, ignoring chaos that kept increasing in the room as Law searched.

He began to undress at full speed, knowing from the shouts at the other side of the door that they were already late to the temple. Kidd, behind him, still half asleep whistled with appreciation when the white robe he had been wearing moments before fell to the floor leaving him totally naked.

Law glared at him. He didn't have time for this.

"Get out," he ordered as his good morning. There was no time to look for underwear, he would have to go commando. What a way to start the trial! Law cursed a second time.

Kidd just smiled at him and got up yawning. Law tried to rearrange the damn skirt again over the tight pants, finally he got the seals clasped and went to look for the damn sandals. Why hadn't he prepared anything the night before?

Arms hugged his waist from behind and a familiar breath fluttered against his neck. Law stopped all movement instantly despite knowing that he was late for the most important event of his life. The redhead however just raised his hand to Law's jaw and turned his face to the side until their mouths brushed in a light kiss. Deep, calm and lazy. Law responded to it instantly trying to catch the other's lips and deepen a bit more the contact, trying to get that calmness and softness to erase his nerves.

This kiss wasn't possessive or angry like the one of their first time where Law had ended up aroused, confused and angry. Nor it was like the lazy ones of the previous night, tired, numbing, and warm. It was more passionate and serious, as if the redhead wanted to show him something important, as if he was giving him courage to face what was going to fall upon him.

Law opened his mouth to the other without even being aware of it. Kidd instantly licked him gladly, slowly, as if he was trying to memorize Law's taste. Law contained a moan. Heat curled on his stomach in appreciation. His nerves and worrying suddenly felt too far away.

Law knew what Kidd was trying to do with this kiss, what he had been doing since the news of the trial had arrived at the house. Now, on the most important day of his life, hearing Ace screaming at him to hurry, Law knew that, if it hadn't been for Kidd, these last four days could have been terrifying. The redhead had distracted him when he had needed it, last night for example, if it hadn't been for him, Law wouldn't have slept at all. The redhead seemed to take care of him in his own way. Although they both knew perfectly well that it was only because he wanted Law on his bed moaning his name.

Even so, he had helped him a lot, and despite his protests, Law was beginning to desire to end up in the other's bed too.

Kidd bit him as if reading his thoughts then, stopping him from turning this little kiss into something else. Law squirmed against him biting him back, but focusing again on the reality. Why Kidd always seemed to take care of him?

Kidd's arms moved away from his hips then and rested on his wrists wrapping them with something cold that emitted a clicking noise when they closed around them. Separating from the playful kiss, Law lowered his eyes seeing the metal wristbands that the redhead always wore, now on himself.

"I want you to have them," Kidd whispered against his ear. "They give me luck in battle and they will protect you if something happens."

A soft kiss was pressed into his hair as Law watched the wristbands with surprise. These metals hid part of his tattoos, those he had had since childhood, and highlighted the dark gleaming of his dark skin. They were beautiful. Expensive. Not a thing you would give a lover, but a wife.

"Thank you" Law murmured, overwhelmed. Not knowing what to say to this. He didn't know why but that gesture made him feel something strange that he had never felt before. Warm and happy, it spread on his chest making him want to smile.

Kidd did smile at him, with one of those pure and kind smiles that Law had only seen in him a few times. The one that had no arrogance or bad intentions, only just a smile, the one Law secretly loved. The redhead finally bent over him and gave him another soft kiss in the lips.

"Good luck Law, I'll see you in the coliseum" separating from him with a slow caress over his neck, Kidd went to the window, jumped over it easily, and left him alone in his room confused and wanting something more. Something he didn't understand.

Ace banged on his door as if crazed. Luffy sounded as if he was on the verge of tears. Garp shouted back at Ace. Law sighed tiredly. Excited. Scared.

"Sandals" he tried to focus "I have to find the sandals"

...oOo...

Hours later he left the house in the direction of the temple where they would have to spend the remaining hours until dawn praying and asking the gods for who knows what. Ace at his side was tenser than a metal stick, he walked looking around nervously, as if searching for the nearest escape route, but Garp kept him quiet and on the way with one of his big hands resting on his nephew's shoulders. Luffy walked next to them too, pale, in silence, looking also terrified for some reason.

Law ignored them trying to relax himself. When he had left his room, his family had looked at his new bracelets recognizing them instantly, but they had not said anything about it. Good, he thought. The last thing he needed now, a few streets away from the temple, was for his family to start interrogating him about his relationship with the general. _Just a few streets away from the temple_. Law started to sweat. He cursed. He clenched his fists.

What if something went wrong? What if he had to fight Ace? What if…?

Garp's great hand fell on his shoulder too, bringing him back to this world and reassuring him a little as it always did. Law looked up at the entrance of the great Delphi temple now in front of them.

The temple was rectangular huge building with an imposing marble colonnade and a high battlement wall that came out of it and surrounded the other temple's buildings: the small rounded chapel where the oracle had its readings, and the buildings dedicated to the god where no one was allowed to enter. The temple was the richest and most beautiful building of the city, it was said that it had existed before anything in the island, the god himself creating it so he could help humanity with his knowledge.

A group of young people their age was already gathered at the front of the high white colonnade that was the entrance to the complex. There should not be more than twenty boys in total, all clad in the blue plaids, their chest bared to the night, they should look proud, the future of the city, but their faces showed the purest panic. Like Ace. Like Law. Both brothers looked at the group paralyzed, unable to move forward.

Garp of course pushed them to the group with no delicacy. A lion throwing his cubs into the ravine to make them stronger. Law saw him and Luffy go away after that to the colosseum, to wait for the trial. With no parting words, with no advice, just walking away. Military people were crazy.

However, as they finally approached the small group of boys to join in, a lady appeared between the columns with her face hidden behind a dark blue veil, and the typical priestess clothes decorating her body. She looked to have been waiting for them both to arrive. Law cursed. This wasn't a good start.

"Young aspirants, please follow me into our lord's house" she asked with the bored voice of someone who has done the same thing a thousand of times. Law frowned. She didn't sound welcoming. She didn't sound comprehensive. That didn't look right. No matter what, the trial was one of the most important ceremonies of the city, there would be parties, celebrations... People loved the contestants of the trial.

The group moved forward.

Law pulled Ace by his arm as his dear big and strong brother looked unable to walk on his own from the terror. Once inside the building, they were led through open corridors and gardens to a huge room. Empty, not even decorated, with white columns and white floors, and an altar with an imposing huge statue of the god that reached the ceiling. The room was lit with torches, and there were dark blue fabrics between the columns closing the space, as if they wanted to give the participants some privacy, still they moved with the air and they gave off and even more eerie and suspicious look.

All participants kneel on the floor before the statue as was the tradition. In ordered lines, with their heads down and their palms up in an imploring position.

"You will pray here until the first ray of the sun touches our temple " the woman from before explained in a dead voice as she walked between their kneeling bodies "Then, you will be taken to the Coliseum where you will take the second part of the test in front of the assembly and the whole city."

Some boys shifted uncomfortably. Other looked like they were about to cry. Ace at his side was too pale. Why did the woman remind them this? Shouldn't she help them? Relax them for what was to come? Why was she like this? Priestess were supposed to be good.

"Take this moment to tell our dear god what you wish to become, and him, with his great generosity, would grant it to you if he sees you worthy." Law was tempted to roll his eyes. This part was so useless. "Now, begin"

A bell sounded in the sudden silence of the temple. The torches flickered uneasy, the fabrics in the walls stilled as if suddenly something had stopped the wind. This place was so unsettling. Law had never liked the temple.

The silence stretched. The minutes passed. After some time, Law couldn't help but yawn bored and sift uncomfortably.

He had never prayed to any of the gods and he wasn't planning on starting right now. He hadn't believed in the myths of the almighty gods who controlled human's lives as if nothing no matter how much they had been repeated to him when he had been small. Yet he had long ago realized that he couldn't do anything to avoid this moment of religious fanaticism, so instead of praying, Law devoted himself to observe the temple and review things in his mind for the later exam.

Rushed shadows moved behind the fabrics with whispering voices. Surely, that would be the temple's people who had begun to watch them as the spectacle they were. Stupid tradition. He averted his eyes from the undulating tapestries and whispering voices, and instead watched Ace at his side. His brother was muttering something under his breath as if possessed, pale, sweating, although he didn't look as bad as some of his companions who suddenly seemed to be on the verge of collapsing, with their rapid breathing and trembling figures. What happened to them? Law understood the nerves, Law was nervous too, but enough to hyperventilate?

He turned his eyes back to the front ignoring them all, he got anxiety just by looking at them. Instead he focused on the statue in front of him, the central piece of the room. It was another huge piece of marble, several meters high representing a tall, strong, half-naked man, clad in a blowing tunic. It was painted with bright colours, the tunic was dark blue, his hair a dark golden, his eyes were a colour Law couldn't see very well.

The typical God.

Suddenly, a slow chill ran down his back and Law tensed uncomfortably over his numb legs. _Someone was watching him_. Fixedly. Dangerously. He didn't know how but Law knew it, and unlike the amused giggles or whispers from behind the dark blue fabrics, this look, this person, put on alert every fiber of his body.

Law shivered slightly suddenly cold. _Weak, breakable_. He clenched his fist containing the shivers. His breath caught in his throat as if someone was strangling him. _So, so weak_. Law focused on breathing through his nose with slow deep breaths. In. Out. The sensations kept pressing his body, but Law maintained a tight grip over himself.

What the hell was this?! He scrutinized every inch of the temple looking for the source of those eyes, of that horrible sensation what was physically hurting him. Walls, roof, the other boys. _Nothing_. Each second that passed he turned more nervous, more tense, as the gaze kept suspended on him, raising the hairs on the back of his neck.

Ace at his side looked at him strangely and Law tried to control his paranoia. Okay, now he understood why some of his companions also seemed about to break for no apparent reason. How were they standing this? He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, focusing on lowering his pulsations. Slowly he entered in a state of meditation he had been taught by an old teacher. He could control this. It was just a stare. Law emptied his mind. He stood still with his eyes closed trying to ignore the look ravishing his body, over his clavicle, down his back. Law just pretended to pray quietly for hours, not moving, not thinking, just controlling his reactions and his body through sheer will.

The eyes however remained on him refusing to leave. As if the man who was looking at him was having fun making him uncomfortable, trying to make him crumble and run. Cold sweat slipped slowly between Law's shoulder blades. His breathing was still faster despite his efforts. Yet, he wouldn't lose. Not now.

When the bell rang again at dawn, ending the session, he almost jumped and screamed in victory because the torture had ended.

"The preparations had ended" again announced the priestess of the empty voice "Now, I will accompany you outside where General Marco would be waiting for you all"

People started to get up, some with more difficulty than others, but them all followed the woman out the room. Law however took more time than he needed. His muscles felt tense and numb from the fatigue of those stupid hours supporting those strange eyes. Eyes that still kept observing him.

"Law, are you okay?" Ace asked, standing by his side worried, taking him by and arm and helping him get up.

Law looked up at his brother to thank him, but then, and he saw him. Behind the statue of the god. Two bright eyes immersed in the darkness behind. Staring at him with an amused and curious air. Shining with a colour Law had never seen in a human being.

His breathing cut off.

"Law?" Ace asked again, gripping his shoulder and shaking him.

Law forced himself to focus. It wasn't like him to fall into panic attack over such silly things. _Over a stupid look_. Grabbing Ace's arm, he walked after the rest of the group, no sign of nerves of weakness in his steps.

"Let's get out of here and finish this shit"

Ace followed him with a worried frown, but said nothing. Now wasn't the moment. However before leaving the room Law couldn't help but turn his gaze to the altar looking for those eyes. They had already disappeared. The weird feeling disappeared just as fast. Law finally took a deep breath and his whole body relaxed as they came out to the world outside the temple.

General Marco was a blond man who looked to be the same age as Kidd and that stood before them at the entrance of the temple. He was tall, strong, had a shining armour an exact copy as Kidd's, but he looked at them with a big smile, understanding, excited. Like a big brother welcoming them home.

After a week living with the redhead, with his tricks, his smirks, his intenseness, Law looked confused at this new shining and easy-going general. How could people so different work for the same field? Ace at his side also looked a bit confused at this new man, his eyes always appreciative of any man in an armour but distrusting him in this day.

Sadly, they didn't have any time for presentations. A maddening crowd was waiting for them too behind the general. Shouting to them, throwing them bay leaves, flowers, or even gold coins. Marco seemed to be shouting something at them, but the sound was just too much and no one heard a thing. Frowning displeased, the general just gestured them to follow him.

Slowly they passed through the crowd in the direction of the temple on the other side of the city. The advance felt pretty slow. Some people slapped their backs wishing them luck with a knowing happy smile, others, the young ones, looked at them with respect as if they were heroes, but others…others just took advantage of the moment of confusion to grope where people shouldn't be groped.

Law had already broken the face of several people before arriving at the Colosseum and that, summed with the tension after the temple's incident, had left him in a state of alertness and concentration, perfect to face the test. Ace beside him also had blood stains on his fists and a pissed look. Law guessed that the walk had also been entertaining for him. Ace was more handsome than him after all.

Inside the Coliseum they were directed to one of the lower rooms from where they could already hear the crowd roaring furiously on the grades. General Marco stood in the front of the room, next to a metallic door that leaded to the arena, he urged them to sit on the long benches, the only furniture in the stone room.

"The test will begin in a moment" he started saying with a serious professional voice "I will call you in pairs. You will go to the arena and do the test with your partner. The test will consist of five parts: a fight, a dialectic debate, medical test, religion and craftsmanship. The assembly would judge your abilities based on this and asignate you to one of their units. Do your best and good luck" he said as if no one knew what they were facing.

Marco quickly opened then a small scroll a boy of the coliseum had handed him, and called the first couple as in a hurry. The walk here had taken just too long, they were surely too late in schedule. The two boys however, one small the other huge, both scared to dead, crossed the door next to the general as if they weren't about to cry. Cheers and excited screams filled the room before it again closed.

And so, the time went by again.

The participants were named, one after the other, they went silently and scared, out to the arena to face their future. The rest waited their turn with more and more nerves as time passed. Thank god, the room had started to empty after a while, and the atmosphere didn't feel so oppressive now. Law bit his lips as the bell that ended another test made the rocks under his feet tremble.

"Sabo and Portgas D. Ace" Marco announced this time.

Ace jumped up, pale, sweaty, but with a determined look on his eyes Law hadn't seen before. He had grown so much this last year. He went to where Marco was with steady steps. Another blond boy as pale as Ace was also approached the general. The boy smiled terrified at Ace, but the general pressed his shoulder and urged him to go to the door of the arena.

"Good luck," Law told Ace before he also went out of the room. Ace turned and nodded to him with a serious, murderous face. Concentrated. Focused. A soldier.

"You too"

Law smirked at his brother's back. Proudly, he listened to the cheers of the audience when they recognized Ace's last name as that of the famous commander who led the city's army. He would do fine. Law couldn't see his brother in another place that wasn't the army. The door however closed. Silence filled the room again.

There were only a handful of kids in the room now and Law was beginning to get nervous with all that pressure and impatience. Couldn't they call him now and finish with the drama?

The time was passing and mid-morning arrived leaving only him and another blond and huge boy in the place. Of course he had to be the last one, he thought angrily, cursing himself for having gone to register in the last moment. Why did he always have such bad luck? The blond boy at the other end of the room gave him a confident smile, as if telling him that he was going to let him survive on their first test: the fight.

So a brute with no brain was going to be his partner. Law ignored him. Lowering his eyes to his hands he gathered as much concentration as he could in this last moments. The bell rang again.

"Bellamy and Trafalgar D. Law" Marco finally announced from the door. Law licked his lips. He unclenched his fist. The damn hour had arrived.

Rising slowly, he went in a sepulchral silence to where Marco was along with the huge blond boy. To the doorway. To the sand.

"How did Ace do it?" He asked without looking at Marco, his eyes fixed on the worn metallic door. On the test. On his future.

He knew that the results would be given to all of them together at the end of the test and that nobody knew anything yet. He was about to face his own test, but he was also worried about his brother. Maybe he had screwed up somewhere, maybe there had been an accident in the fight, maybe ...

"He has done very well," Marco commented with a proud smile, to which Law raised a curious eyebrow. Okay, what had happened?

But before he could ask, someone announced their names in the sand and Bellamy quickly crossed the door leaving him alone with the general listening to the cries of the crowd.

"Even so, I think you should worry more about yourself than him," Marco told him eyeing Law's huge partner.

Law listened to his name being shouted by the crowd on the other side of the door. Turning slightly, he faced Marco and smiled at him with a twisted, arrogant smile, like the ones Kidd used. Marco blinked in surprise, looking at the boy who seemed completely calm now, with no hint of fear in his eyes. That wasn't normal, how could someone be so calm and confident before such a test?

"If you say so" Law murmured in response to the blond's comment, stepping through the door, stepping on the sand of the coliseum for the first and last time in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does someone know Bellami or Sabo surnames? It looked kind of stupid cos Ace and Law had such long names, they looked like royalty compared to the poor boys XD
> 
> In any case, happy that Marco has apeared? We still need Zoro and some more, but they will apear. So how would the trial be that everyone is so scared? Would Law manage to do medicine as he wants? The fic is just begining and I'm gonna have so much fun~
> 
> Leave some reviews my dear friends, otherwise I might kill someone~
> 
> See ya


	6. The Trial: Coliseum Part

 

The arena greeted Law with a chorus of voices shouting from every direction, and a the numbing melting heat of a mid-august day. The colosseum was huge, just the arena could hoard thousands of people, but with the grades, stands and open arcs and colonnades, it just looked so much bigger. The golden of the sand at his feet contrasted with the colouring of the people on the grades dressed in silks and fancy clothes. Blue predominated around everything, as was the tradition, blue for the temple, blue for the participants.

Law was beginning to hate the colour.

His ears ached under the deafening roar of the crowd, his blue trousers felt sticked to his legs, the heat was too much, but he ignored it and focused instead on moving towards the main stand on the grades where the assembly rested and looked at them.

Bellamy was already there saluting the crowd. His muscles shone with sweat under the sun too, the little skirt they all had to wear hid nothing of his anatomy, Bellamy hadn't worried on putting something under it like Law had. The crow didn't seem to mind. The boy was impressive, huge, strong, with blonde sandy hair, and a wild smile. The crowd already seemed to love him, such boys always provided a good spectacle.

As Law stood next to the golden boy, he heard some whispers and giggles directed to him. Law knew exactly why they laughed, or directed him worried glances, at first sight he didn't represent a challenge for his impressive companion. He was too skinny and lanky, his skin was too dark like that of the barbarians of the countries of the east, his tattoos were disturbing, his stance careless. He looked like a spoiled rich boy in his rebelling phase, complaining, looking dangerous, but calling for their mama when a fight started.

However, instead of embarrassing him, the comments only served his as an advantage. The weakest the enemy considered him, the lower his guard was, the easiest it would be for him to make him bite the dust.

He rose his eyes to where the assembly and judges of the test were sitting. Garp greeted him happily with a huge proud smile on his face. As every year he was responsible for selecting those who entered the army. Law ignored him making the old man frown. Next to him was Iceburg who would be electing the candidates entering the intricate politics of Greece. Paulie was also the leader of the carpenters and craftsmans of the city. Kureha, representing the doctors and surgeons, a middle aged woman who was holding a bottle of red wine suspiciously empty... and, of course, the people from the temple.

With the face hidden by a black veil the god sat in the midst of the judges hidden from the eyes of the populace, the burning sun and the chaos of the event. He looked erie, as if he didn't belong in this world, set apart. He came every year to see the test and personally selected those who would entered the temple and be at his service. He represented the highest authority in the coliseum, in the city, probably in the whole Greek empire.

Law had never believed in religion. Yet he couldn't understand the power that this man should hold.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we shall now begin with the last test of the magnificent day!" shouted a commentator named Jango. A weird man, wearing extravagant clothes and with old-fashioned gestures. No one knew who he had came from, who he was or what he did for a living, but everyone accepted him nonetheless.

Therefore the crowd erupted in cheers after the enthusiastic comment, some complained at the quick end of the event, other whistled at the golden boy next to Law with suggestive glances. Bellamy laughed and returned another of his wild shining smiles to the crowd. Law simply shifted his weight from foot to foot impatiently, while trying to regain his focus on the impering chaos.

"In exactly one hour, the results will be given out, and the party at the Franky Hause would start for everyone to join in and celebrate! There would be drinks, there would be food, and entertainment provided by our dear leaders!" continued the commentator "But before that, let the last test begin!" he shrieked hysterically.

Garp rose from his seat first tensely as if that phrase had been his start. Law raised an eyebrow at the poor acting. Garp however, rose a hand and the crowd seemed to hold its breath simultaneously. The gray-haired commander had earned the respect of the whole city through his life, not only the little boys considered him a hero, but the parents, and even the elderly went to him for advice this days.

"The first test consists on a combat between both of you. Each of you would choose any weapon you see fit, and try to make the other fall to the ground before he throws you. You can't kill your opponent, nor cause serious injuries, the weapons had been modified just for this. Choose wisely. Fight with honour. Show us what you are made of"

Garp winked at Law.

Law ignored him again, as he had been ignoring his words. After all, the test had never changed no mattered how many years passed. The same things were done year after year, the fights, the weapons, so people would be more or less prepared when the time came and they had to face it.

"How do you want to fight?" Bellamy asked then with a confident look on his blue eyes, obviously sure that he would win "I know to fight with all kinds of weapons, so we should choose the one you are best at, maybe then you will have some chance against me, and I would have some fun" The blonde teased lowly.

The closest part of the crowd giggled again. Bellamy laughed loudly at his own joke. Law simply looked at him bored. If the other offered victory on a plate, who was he to complain?

"Swords" he announced heading towards a wall where there was a pile of weapons on the ground for them to choose.

Leaning over the pile, he scrutinized the old and blunt weapons. Couldn't they even maintain them? The iron was so oxided that Law feared they would crumble in his hands. There were rusted daggers too and mallets with strange spikes or even a useless trident Law hadn't seen anyone using ever. After stirring a bit in the disaster he chose without hesitation a long, clean sword almost as tall as him.

Bellamy at his side chose a short sword like those used by soldiers in the army. Law was tempted to roll his eyes as soon as he saw it. Another army freak, nice.

"Can you even hold that sword up, little guy?" mocked even more the blonde man eying the huge sword Law had chosen.

Law ignored him again turning to the center of the arena.

Once the weapons were chosen -and once Bellamy had winked again at the girls in the crowd- they finally faced one another to the delight of the public. Just under the watchful eyes of the assembly and the god.

Bellamy again tried to provoke him. He laughed at him. He even used a few dirty comments suggesting what Law could do with such a long sword in a warm night. It was then that Law decided that he didn't needed to restrain himself in the fight, nor care for his opponent's pride. Bellamy had such a huge ego, that it won't do much harm to him to lose a little battle in front of the whole village.

A twisted, dangerous smile appeared on Law's face, sadly, Bellamy didn't notice.

Jango ran a bell that indicated the start of the contest. The crowd cheered at the top of their lungs, Bellamy darted towards Law with no doubt...

The fight ended in three simple acts.

In the first one Bellamy attacked him confidently with a blow that had too many openings and flourishes. Much movement, little strength. Showing off. Law, with a simple twist of his wrist, dodged it with his own sword while hitting the other's hand painfully. Bellamy's short sword flew to the other end of the field pathetically, Law disarming him with a ridiculous little movement.

The second act happened when Law without a pause moved deadly towards the golden boy giving him a kick in his stomach and pressing on it until he felt something break. A rib. Not deadly. Not permanent injury. But hella painful. Then, a punch in his arrogant face with the hilt of his sword, and a kick in the back of the neck. The other felt on the floor, with no air in his lungs, writhing in pain.

The final act was more a little revenge on his part. His own showing off. With another slight twist of his wrist, he let the elegant and long sword rest quietly over the other's neck, ending the combat as the army ended their trainings: with an absolute victory, the enemy only living because he wanted. Law observed his opponent with a bored face from above. Powerful and deadly.

The silence in the coliseum lasted a full minute. More than the fight had lasted. Then someone started to laugh in disbelief and the crowd erupted in cheers. Law lowered the sword and turned to the assembly.

"And the winner is Trafalgar Law!" shouted the commentator in that annoying voice.

Garp from the grades gave him an amused look raising an eyebrow. Law shrugged. He knew he had gone a bit over the head with the fight, but wasn't he supposed to do that here? Show off? The crowd began to chant his name, but Law ignored it and focused on his _charming_ companion.

"Are you fine, _big boy_?" he mocked his rival now, extending a hand.

Bellamy glared at him from the floor and got up still panting from the pain. Law felt just a little sorry for him. Both returned their weapons to the pile as the crowd calmed and another figure rose in the grades.

Paulie looked at them frowning, his hands full of scars as he rubbed at his beard.

"What kind wood would you use to make a boat for an army that would travel for months?"

To be true, Paulie's test wasn't very complicated. It almost disappointed Law. All the man did was ask a series of questions about carpentry, blacksmithing, pottery and the like. How hot the iron needed to be to forge a sword? How can you create glass? What's the difference between greek soil and egyptian?...

Law knew he had guessed all the questions right since they were general knowledge. A walk into the local market would grant you the answers. The blacksmith would claim that his swords were the best since he had created a new way of heating iron. The potter would say that his porcelain was the purest white because he had glazed it with desert sands in a full moon night...easy. That's why Law also knew that his partner had missed more than half of them.

Bellamy didn't look like a kid of man who used his brains often, but this was just ridiculous. Could the other be _so_ stupid? Didn't he go to the market?

When Paulie's test finally ended, over half of the people of the stands were yawning trying not to fall asleep. A group of children had even began to play between the gathered chasing one another. Only a few men looked as if they were interested in the test, clearly, Paulie's workers, people just as nerdy as the man himself. Craftsmanship was a vocational career.

"Well now, people, please, listen up!" Jango shouted trying to make the people pay attention again. Or at least woke them up. The children running around looked at the man smiling excited again. People moved on their seats. "It's time for dialectics. Master Iceburg, please, propose a theme"

The mayor of the city, a man as serious as a stone who always had too much to do and ended up napping when he could, stood up and looked at the two young aspirants. Law was sweating under the sun. Bellamy still was holding his ribs.

"Well, let's see. Mmm" he started thinking as if pondering the pair "Well, I guess some philosophy would be fine"

Law, he clicked his tongue. He hated philosophy, it seemed as stupid as politics. If craftsmanship was vocational, politics was suicidal. Who would enter it willingly? Bellamy beside him also shifted uncomfortably at hearing the topic, but both remained in place and waited.

"Can a man bathe twice in same river?" The man asked with a knowing smile on his mouth.

Law rolled his eyes. _Boring_. He had expected something more...interesting. That debate was part of Heraclitus' theory of change, was he really being asked such stupidity? He went to open his mouth to answer and finish with this quickly, but apparently Iceburg had not finished.

"Let Bellamy answer first, Trafalgar Law, let's give him some advantage after the other trials"

Law smiled amused while Bellamy blushed deep red.

"Well," the blonde began, clearing his throat "I think that yes, a man can bathe twice in the same river, after all, even if the river changes, it's still the same river, otherwise we would have to rename the river again everytime we see it since it won't be the same one. And not just the river, but the mountains, paths, the world, everything would be a chaos"

Law blinked surprised. Had the other really said what he had just said? He was giving Law another victory in a silver plate. Iceburg also looked at the boy with a certain disappointed air.

"Something else?" The man encouraged, but Bellamy just shook his head. Iceburg sighed.

"Law, what's your antithesis"

Law breathed in and started talking with a bored tone.

"No. A man can't bathe twice in the same river since the river is not the same from one day to another. The water flows, the stones change and even the man who bathes isn't the same, your thoughts aren't the same from the day before, or your body can grow or change. The moments are unrepeatable and they can't return"

Bellamy looked at him with a frown and Iceburg nodded in agreement, but Law wasn't finished, he had decided to do the best he could in the tests. He had to impress them, be the best, and he was going to do it.

"From this theory we can determine that man exists but at the same time doesn't exist. He is a succession of himself over time, he exists in this moment but at the same time he doesn't exist because this moment has already passed. That is why Heraclitus said that we can't know exactly what is real and what is not, with what …"

"But that's absurd" Bellamy said interrupting him "We all know what it's real and what isn't. Even a baby does."

He knew that Bellamy was trying to make a fool of him by trying to pretend that he knew what he was talking about, but what the blond didn't know was that he was making a fool of himself.

"As I was saying…" Law said with an annoyed voice "Due to this problem, Heraclitus finished deducing that only what remains in time, what never changes, such as natural laws or gods are real " he finished.

"So you're telling me you do not exist?" Bellamy asked smirking at him.

Law looked at him. He was digging his own tomb. Deeper and deeper. But who was Law to disencourage him? How could someone be such an imbecile?

"No. I exist because my memory will last for history" he arrogantly announced with a smirk. Glory. The greek ideal. What every citizen sought to obtain.

"Well, that's it, that's it," said Iceburg, trying to calm them down and clapping his hands to get their attention. The crowd was murmuring again, some on their own discursions, other's just listening. Greeks loved to argue over stupid useless things. "Kureha, your turn, I'm done" said the man sitting down again.

Law tensed at the name.

An old, voluptuous lady approached the front of the box and stared at them. Law tried to put on his most serious and neutral face while his partner just sighed tired. The old woman raised her hand and snapped her fingers in the tense silence that suddenly flooded the coliseum. Okay, that was weird, it had never been so silent. Law observed the crowd focusing on horrified fearful faces and on mothers hugging their children, some even pretended to study the empty sky…

What the hell?

A group of slaves entered the arena. They deposited two tables on the mid of it and started to fill them with different things. Herbs, creams, frasks full of colourful liquids, a balance, papers...then, two separated from the group and handed both participants a closed box for each.

The grades moved impatiently when the boxes appeared, as if scared.

Law looked at the box curiously wondering what was he supposed to do and how he could impress the lady he wanted to study medicine under. Something moved inside the box. Law frowned even more.

"Open the boxes," Kureha ordered, giving the new full bottle of one she had acquired another drink.

Both boys raised the covers at the same time. The crowd held their breath and turned away as if they didn't want to see the tragedy again. A figure shot out of the box towards him. Two sharp points dug into his arm, deeply. Painfully.

Law released the box in his hands with an instinctive reflex. A small snake came out of it, brown and black, sinuous, with a arrow head. Bellamy at his side screamed in panic as another snake identical to Law's, walked away from him after having also taken a bite from him.

Two servants quickly came to them trying to catch the snakes again. Law stared at the grades confused, a numbness beginning to spread over his arm, a deep pain on the bite.

"That snake is one of the most poisonous in our lands," explained Kureha from the pulpit, drinking once more from the bottle. "You have cure yourselves with the materials that are on those tables. You have half an hour. "

"What?" Bellamy screamed panicking. "Poisonous?"

Law clicked his tongue, rubbing the wound and trying to calm the pain. This trial was new, and looking at it, the old lady wasn't playing easily. Finally a serious test, a challenge, a life or death situation. Smiling satisfied Law turned and studied the snake one of the slaves were finally putting back in the box.

It was an asp and it wasn't one of the most poisonous, it was the most poisonous in the zone. It produced paralysis, hemorrhages, pains and of course death. God, this was getting more and more fun, it was for things like this that he loved medicine, risking a life, knowing that a failure could lead to disaster, it made him feel alive.

Approaching the table they had prepared for him, Law began to treat the wound, first sucking out all the poison he could from the bite and then beginning to prepare the antidote making a few slight changes in the formula so that it wouldn't take so long to prepare. He mixed the herbs, boiled the concoction, pulverized it with a mortar until he obtained a paste, and applied it on the wound.

The pain disappeared as if it was magic.

Ten minutes later after the beginning of the test, Law found himself in front of the jury with a bored face, calm, as if nothing had happened. Kureha looked at him with clear interest. Garp however looked paler than usual and was glaring at the woman. He probably had seen Ace do the same as him, and probably fail, since Ace knew nothing of medicine.

He congratulated himself mentally on his show.

Meanwhile Bellamy had gone into hysterical panic and, cursing desperately, he began to mix things until something exploded in his face. Law smiled amused. In the end they had to stop him before he poisoned himself even more than he already was, and give him the antidote.

Law realized then that this task hadn't just been about skill, but about how they would react under pressure. Medicine was a hard career, Kureha needed the best.

There was only one test left: the bullshit from the temple. A priest came forward and looked at the two boys through his blue translucent veil. High priest couldn't be seen. It was said that it would corrupt them. The woman who had received them this morning had to be one of the lowest classes of priests. Yet she had been so old. How did one ascend on the temple?

The god behind the assemble, lying on a chair, black clothes and black veils camouflaging him in the shadows didn't move at all. Was he even real?

Bellamy at his side then entered full alertness, tensing with a face of panic. Law watched him curiously. What happened to him now? Had the poison caused more damage to his brain than Law had considered? The blond was totally stiff and it looked as if he had difficulty breathing. Was it the heat? He looked about to faint, pale sweaty...

"On behalf of our dear lord, whose voice can't be heard by such low people as we are, I'll ask the questions," the priest said in a low calm voice. Peaceful. Beautiful. _Fake_.

Suddenly, Law felt it again. The penetrating eyes from the temple again on his person. Studying him, messing and playing with him. Entertained and amused. His chest felt painted, oppressed, suffocated. His concentration broke, his hands started to sweat, his head to ache.

The priest kept talking and Bellamy answered the questions, but Law didn't listen to them. He just focused on maintaining his calm controled pose.

Shit.

He had to relax or everything would go to hell. With a monumental effort, he ignored the look and focused on the priest's voice just in time.

"Trafalgar Law recite to me the deeds of our lord in Crete"

Law closed his eyes, trying to remember just a phrase.

"No idea" he announced. He had never studied or believed in the god, he had never cared.

The murmurs spread through the grades as Bellamy looked at him with fear in his eyes. As if he feared that lightning would fall from the sky and strike Law for his insolence. How could a man not know it? Everyone knew the legends of the god!

The priest cleared his throat.

"It's fine, recite me then the prayer of thanks" he asked again magnanimous.

Law sighed. He had never prayed at all.

"I don't know... I have never really believed in this things" he said while changing the weight of his body from one feet to another, testing if the paranoid vanished depending on his posture, not caring about all this religious part.

Silence spread through the coliseum as people took in his words. Law raised his head finally realizing what he had said.

Chaos broke out.

"Blasphemy!"

"Hahaha dear god, he killed himself"

"Is he crazy? How does one say that in front of the god?"

The god however only shifted in his seat but did nothing else, he didn't get up, he didn't throw a lightning bolt at him. He acted as if his comment hadn't cause him the slightest nuisance. Law frowned slightly at the lack of reaction.

Suddenly a punch crashed into his face. Stepping back a few steps from the impact, Law found Bellamy looking at him with a red face.

"Retract from what you said!" he ordered with panic in his voice and a fist held high.

Law raised an eyebrow, his jaw felt on fire, the other was indeed strong. Yet Law found himself falling into combat pose, anger flaring, tension getting the better of him. His nerves were raw, his mind tired. The weird stare hadn't left him, of course not, it had only intensified after his comment.

He smiled crazed at the blond man still with a fist raised. If Bellamy wanted a fight, he would have it. Law felt into a defense pose.

"Halt!" The priest yelled.

Law cursed lowering his arms. Bellamy relaxed too but kept glaring at him. Yes, that had been stupid. He was tired, the eyes were still on him, yet he shouldn't fall so easily into provocations. He clenched his fists.

"Well," sighed Iceburg raising again in the chaos, trying to calm everyone with his clapping and lazy tone "The test is now finally over. Now that all participants had have their time to prove themselves, let's congratulate them and start the naming ceremony."

The rest of the boys quickly entered the arena then placing themselves before the assembly next to Law and Bellamy. The crowd seemed to relax with this, still some sent Law nasty glances. Ace walked to Law happily accompanied by the blonde boy with whom he had done the test with. Both had bruises and tired faces but had satisfied smiles on their faces.

"This is Sabo" Ace presented him.

"Nice to meet you," Law replied, shaking the boy's hand, but before they could speak another word, the shrill voice of the commentator called them back.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, what you have been waiting for so long, the results and destinies of these brave young boys" the assembly handed Jango a wrinkled parchment and unrolling it he began to read.

"Toni Toni Chopper. Medicine with Kureha. Be tomorrow before dawn on her quarters"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, clifhanger again cos I can, sorry. Where would Law go? and Ace? And Sabo? Now we have Marco and Sabo, who would Ace finish with? Would Kureha take Law? Would he work with Chopper man? What would Kidd do? (Probably get injured so Law can treat him)
> 
> Sorry about the phylosophy talk, I was young and studing it so I had all this ideas on my mind. The autor existed and the theory too, you can look for it. Phylosophy is kind of fun actually, it helps you think and realize a few things, stupid things, but things, it's like arguing with yourself, study it if you can, even if it's just a bit.
> 
> About the acurracy of the things done and said here, is all a lie, don't trust a thing as historical, I just reserched the snake thing, and that's even modified since it lives in Italy not Greece. The idea or the medicine trial came from a book about egypt, aparently it was like the final trial healers aprentices had to do to become actual doctors. Don't try at home XD
> 
> And that's all, leave a few reviews my dudas and dudes.


	7. Answers

Kidd observed the crowd applaud as Jango continued to pronounce the verdicts of the trial in a quick pace. People was beginning to leave the coliseum since the entertaining part had finished and the party was quickly starting in the streets of the city between shouts of joy. It was done, now a new and very different day began. Party. Alcohol. Sex. Greek parties were just the best.

Kidd couldn't wait to join it all.

"So, how was it?" Marco asked, suddenly sitting next to Kidd in the grades, their place as generals being next to the judges', and therefore having one of the best views of the arena.

This year, Marco had been the one in charge of organizing the coliseum event for the first time, he had talked with the assembly's members asking for what they needed for the trials, he had done the registrations, the list, the matches... but now that it was over, the blond man was free to enjoy the event and the general party, and come to the grades to see the last part..

"It wasn't _that_ bad," Kidd answered evilly "The snake thing had been risky, true, you would have some parents complaining tomorrow and asking for blood, but again I was expecting so much worse from you, I'm kind of disappointed"

Marco frowned and Kidd couldn't help but smile mischievously at his friend.

The trial had been boring. It always felt boring for him, he didn't understand why people liked it so much. The questions were always the same, the trial was repeated and repeated year after year, the trembling boys, the evil judges... If it hadn't been for Ace at the beginning, Kidd would have died of boredom.

That kid had done it pretty fine. Kidd had applauded along with the crowd cherishing Ace, after all, the boy had been his student, he needed to encourage him as the awesome teacher he was. Still, he had laughed with Ace's answers to the questions of the jury, to his boldness and crazy ideas. He had almost felt sad when the young man's time had ended and hours of boredom had stretched over him.

It had passed two _fucking_ hours of hellish boredom until Law, the boy he had come to see, had entered to the arena. And of course, the boy had stepped into the colosseum as an emperor entering his palace. The little shit. However, Kidd's proud smile had quickly turned into something more dark and lustful as he had also seen the bracelets in the other's wrists. Two gold rings with Kidd's symbol marking Law as _his_ for the word to see.

Kidd had groaned hiding a very unnecessary erection.

Then the test had begun. The fight had been pathetic, although Kidd hadn't been able to laugh with the rest of the crowd since he had also made the same mistake of underestimating Law at the time. Then had come the boring stupid questions that, of fucking course, Law had answered making it clear that he knew what he was talking about. Philosophy. Dialectics...During the medicine test Kidd had wanted to murder Kureha along with Garp, but the worst part had been when Law's companion had punched him and the crowd had raised against him.

_Kidd was going to kill some people._

Still, Kidd couldn't help but wondered how Law could be so perfect. He was pretty intelligent, strong, proud and a fucking living temptation. Kidd loved it all. He didn't understand how he had hold himself back in the hallway when he had first seen him, or when he had kissed him after the exciting race, or when training when he had had Law pressed against his body, warm, soft and inviting... for God's sake, Kidd body warmed again by remembering it all.

The boy was just pure sex. Those long, strong legs that walked so confidently and that would look perfectly wrapped around his neck as Kid made him scream. That dark skin covered with those exotic tattoos that promised to be the softest thing he could ever touch. His twisted smile with those lush, hot lips that he found so difficult to stop biting each time he kissed them.

And his eyes.

Dear god those damn grey eyes. Kidd would never tire of provoking the other and seeing how they changed colour along with his emotions: from the dark grey of metal when he got angry, to the bluish grey when he smiled at his brothers, or the pale colour of which they turned when Kidd kissed him.

Fucking intriguing eyes.

However, the most attractive thing of the whole situation was that the brunette didn't seem to know how attractive he was. Many times, the redhead had exploded in a fit of jealousy when someone had smiled at Law with a languid lustful look and the boy had simply returned a warm smile of those who cut Kidd's breath, without noticing anything.

Kidd sighed frustrated knowing what that jealousy and aggravation meant. What all this situation meant.

He had realized that, although his first intention had been simply to fuck the other hot boy senseless, now he wanted something very different from him. Every time he talked to Law, he wanted to get under his skin, to know each of the secrets he hid and crack that mighty attitude that drove him crazy. He wanted to sleep with him curled against his chest again, wanted to kiss him every morning as he had done today, make him blush, show him...

Damn. He was so fucking fucked.

Not only because the boy was the son of his boss and because Garp would surely kill him if he found out, but because Kidd didn't know if he wanted to fall in love in that way again. It had not ended very well the last time, and Law was a disaster waiting to happen. He was just too smart and complicated for his own benefit, it drove him mad with as little as a glance.

He cursed again. What had possessed him to start all this from the beginning? The boy had screamed danger from the first day!

"Kidd, is something wrong? You look to be about to commit a homicide" Marco asked, looking at him amused.

"I'm fine" he answered more brusquely than he wanted. Making it too obvious he was lying. Damn his temper, maybe he should learn how to control his emotions like Law did.

Marco looked now as if he was worried and confused. Their relationship was complicated. They had known each other since they were small, back then they had developed a rivalry and had hated each other to death, but when they had joined the army several years ago they had become inseparable. Part thanks to Garp, part because they were just too alike. Kidd considered the blond as a brother now, someone who had helped him in difficult times and who he would help back.

Although at times, like right now, Marco could be a little constant pain in the ass. Kidd grounded. Marco took the brother-thing to the next level.

"What happens, Kidd? You know you can talk to me" He murmured leaning back on the grades and looking at him contemptuously. "What have you done this time? Another girl? Tell me you haven't punched another senator."

Kidd looked at his annoying friend. Marco was still looking at him actually worried and Kidd wanted to punch him. The senator had deserved it.

"It's not that, asshole" he answered brusquely "I was thinking of someone. I might like a guy"

The expression the blond gave him, a mix of terror and amazement, made Kidd frown even more and want to punch him again. Kidd rolled his eyes. He knew his love life had been far from plain, he had had hundreds of relationships, it was even considered normal for a general to be so demanded, but those relationships didn't last more than a few hours or a night. His friends called him Casanova, a heartbreaker, Kidd had just never found the right person.

Until Law.

Still Marco's still worried him. What if Law found out?

"Is this a joke?" The blond asked still not believing it, looking at him suspiciously. When Kidd shook his head, Marco paled "Kidd no, you can't, don't do this to me ... I can't go through that again"

"I hadn't plan it idiot, it just ... happened" explained the redhead glaring at the sand in front of him where a certain boy keeps talking with his brother and a blond guy.

Marco at his side started to shake his head. Kidd knew why. last time Kidd had ' _fallen in love'_ he had almost started a political conflict with another city. He had been young then, barely fifteen and completely inexperienced, and the girl, an ambassador's daughter, had apparently been just playing with him. Her father had been pretty angry when he had discovered them.

Kidd still remembered the pain from the last time when he discovered the betrayal, and how the girl had been just playing. The shame. His own family and friends pity glances. But he wasn't a child anymore, he had experience now, he knew what Law meant, and knew that the boy won't harm him like that. Law was much better than that.

Marco punched him in the ribs, and Kidd jumped getting out of his trance. The people around them turned to look at the interaction. Both were known in the city for their positions, if two important generals discussed, it would surely become the gossip of the day.

"What?!" Kidd hissed low, glaring at Marco. He hated getting attention.

"I was asking you…"

"Portgas D. Ace and Sabo!" Jango announced on the sand cutting their conversation and making both of them turn towards the sand "You both would go to the army, go to general Marco's training facility tomorrow"

Kidd frowned as Marco next to him suddenly smiled pleased. The two boys on the arena hugged each other in the sand and smiled like crazy. Ace would be under Marco's command from now on, the training would be hard, but he would pass it easily. Kidd had made sure of it this last few days. He stared at the freckled man who now embraced his brother in a tight hug.

Marco at his side was still smiling to widely. It was almost scary.

"What the hell is your problem?" Kidd asked looking at him weirdly.

"Nothing, nothing" however his friend's blue eyes remained fixed on Ace as if studying a prey.

Kidd frowned at the blond. Then he got its meaning. ' _Oh, dear god' h_ e gasped surprised. Not him two! What the hell happened with this family?

Marco coughed and punched him again making him shut up.

"Well, and who is the unfortunate one this time?" Marco quickly asked changing the subject and focusing on the other problem at hand.

Kidd looked at him wondering if he should laugh at him, have his revenge, or leave him alone. Finally, he shrugged. If Marco wanted to keep it secret Kidd completely understood the why. "You see the guy with tattoos?"

Marco scanned the sand with his eyes until he focused on Law. He would surely know him, the genius boy who had passed the test with ease and arrogance, Ace's brother, and also the son of their dear commander Garp.

Marco cursed.

"For Hera, Apollo and the fucking Zeus, you can't be serious" Marco hisses at him "Are you mad, Kidd, he is Garp's son, he would kill you"

Kidd raised an eyebrow sarcastically. ' _Ace was Garp's soon too'_. Marco ignored him with a frown in his eyes. Still, it was true, he still needed to think on what to do with his boss, how to tell him about their relationship and not get murdered in the process. Maybe if it was Law the one who explained, with that smart mouth he had, he would convince Garp to spare his life...

"Wait a moment" Marco said fixing his eyes on the tanned boy with keen eyes "Aren't those your bracelets?"

This time Kidd smirked proudly, even wildly, and looked at Marco with victory in his eyes. Yeah, the boy was his. The hint very pretty obvious. Marco again pallet.

"Don't tell me you have already...Dear god Kidd, do you want to die so badly?" he hissed to him as if Kidd was stupid.

A loud voice interrupted them again.

"And finally," the commentator announces, "Bellamy and Trafalgar Law"

Kidd tensed on the seat as if they were giving the news to him. He observed the boy in the arena almost as tense as he was, but as always, hiding his emotions under that mask of neutrality. God how he hated that mask. Kidd promised to make it crumble tonight, when he finally took what was his. Then he would make Law laugh, smile, and melt in pleasure in his arms with no shame or embarrassment.

The coliseum, now half empty, felt in silence for the end of the whole event, at the last announcement of the year. Kidd felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand alert.

"Both of you would go to work in the temple, under our dear god" the man concluded with a kind smile "Tomorrow at dawn, present yourself on the doors of the temple".

Silence spread.

And it kept spreading for long minutes.

What?

The temple? Had he said the temple?

Kidd swallowed, but his mouth had gone dry. Meanwhile the public began to burst into murmurs of reproach, it was clear that Law didn't belong in the temple. As he had shown during the test, it was the last place he would fit in. It was exactly the opposite of what people had expected.

It was a huge mistake. A mistake that was too late to solve.

"What the hell?" Kidd heard Marco murmur at his side.

Kidd glared at the jury searching for an explanation. Garp was looking at the ground with a face of defeat, his fists clenched, his posture tense, but the rest of them simply frowned and clenched his jaw as if the decision didn't convince them.

What the hell was happening?

He looked at the arena as people began to applaud the end of the whole day without knowing what else to do. The commentator began to dismiss the event. In the middle of the Coliseum Law looked paralyzed, his face seemed to have lost colour.

Kidd watched as Ace approached him and hugged him by the shoulders murmuring something in Law's ear. The boy still didn't move, his hands began to tremble, rage or desperation? his breath rushed as if he was entering a panic attack.

Fuck. Getting up quickly, Kidd tried to get out of the grades and jump into the sand. He had trained, he knew he could stand the height.

But together with the people who were leaving the place and the screams of the party that had already begun, it was totally impossible. He cursed under his breath, elbowing people, trying to break through without surrendering.

He had to see Law

...oOo...

Kidd bit his tongue while squeezing the hand of yet another of the hypocritical politicians of the damn city. As one of the seven generals of the army, he had needed to go to the private party in the assembly building. It was an event that separated the important rich people of the city from the drunks and commoners that would surely be walking now in the streets. It was posh, refined, sophisticated, and boring. Since Marco had dragged him to the stupid party, Kidd had only tried to get out of there and go see Law.

Kidd believed that the boy would be more than depressed, but unfortunately, he had been at the party for hours without being able to leave. Everyone came to greet him and he, out of respect, could not simply send them to shit, so he smiled at them falsely and tried to shorten the conversation as much as he could to escape the event.

He finished dismissing another fat man from the temple and finally saw a familiar face on the other side of the garden talking to a man from the Senate. Crossing the place full of people dressed in their finery, tables full of extravagant food and musicians and dancers trying to entice the audience, he stopped in front of the two men.

"Commander" he saluted Garp.

"Ah Kidd, here you are" said the old man smiling at him with the kind smile he always had. "I was wondering if you-"

"What the hell happened?" Kidd interrupted frowning at the smiling man, "Why have they put Law into the temple?"

After the event had ended, Kidd had looked for answers, but he hadn't been able to talk to anyone who knew what had happened, nor had he seen anyone important enough that he would have known. Until now.

In front of him Garp's eyes darkened slightly, his joy vanishing and being replaced by something more serious and lethal. Then, gesturing for him to follow, they moved away from the noisy crowd that was smiling lasciviously at the dancers in transparent clothes who had just come out to cheer up the party. Refined party their ass.

"It doesn't know the way" Garp started when they stopped under a huge fig tree "At first everything was fine and Kureha agreed to have Law as an apprentice, even in a way too effusive for what she usually behave. The others also wanted him, but I told them that Law wanted to study medicine, so they all agree to give him to Kureha"

"Then?" Kidd asked, not understanding.

"It was the God," the Major muttered, clenching his fists, "It was his order. He said he wanted Law in the temple"

"And you did nothing to stop that? or the others?" Kidd protested "Law doesn't fit there. Even a child would know it. He can't go there!"

"Do you think I don't know it Kidd?" Whispered angrily the older man glaring at him. "It was an order of the god!" he repeated. "You can't contradict the temple and you know it."

Kidd looked at Garp for a moment not believing what he was hearing.

"That's superstition!" he hissed back "He has ruined his life! Law would die in the temple"

Garp sighed again, a frown on his forehead. Running a hand down the back of his neck and shifting the weight from one uncomfortable foot to the other, he looked much older than usual. As if this day was taking too much from him.

"I know Kidd, but those are the stupid rules. I am the fucking commander, child, for god's sake. I can't just go and do what I want when I don't like one of the decisions"

"So, you're not going to do anything. Your grandson is about to enter the temple, a place he clearly hates, for the rest of his fucking life, and you -our dear big and mighty commander- are not going to do anything" he finally said. His voice angry, but calm and scary, a predator about to pounce.

Garp glared at him.

"Don't talk to me like that, general" he said threateningly "It was a god's order. I can't do anything about it, and so can't you. Understood?"

Kidd just stared at him. He just couldn't believe this. He had admired this man. He had thought him invincible, he had almost entered the army for him! However, now he realized that his hero in shining armour was no more than an old man without courage, who was going to surrender in the battle of his son's future. How couldn't he do anything?

Kidd felt a sense of betrayal. If the most important commander of the city won't fight for his family, what was the point of having an army?

"Yes, I understand sir" without saying anything else or saying goodbye or just trying and appearing courteous, Kidd turned around away from the man and left the party, bumping into rich well-dressed people and nobles. If a men complained at his roughness, he just glared them into silence, if someone tried to speak to him he grunted dangerously at them.

He couldn't stand this hypocrisy and falsehood for another minute.

Outside the assembly building, the party on the streets had reached its peak. He walked through the town avoiding fights, chaos and the drunk and excited crowd. There were couples rubbing against each other in the corners or plainly fucking in the middle of the streets between shouts of encouragement from passing strangers. The music filled the air, people sang along and danced in the plazas, and in the taverns, wine ran endlessly.

It was the same as every year.

Kidd frowned, angry and worried at the same time. Tonight, he must have been in one of those taverns drinking, with Law moaning under him as they finally gave in to the lust and sexual tension between them. They should be having fun, starting a new life, enjoying their freedom.

But at the end, it had turned out that tonight, was the last day he would see Law and his incredible grey eyes. Once you entered the temple you never left unless you were a corpse. They all knew it was a prison disguised as a place of worship and veneration.

He quickened his step and clenched his fists just thinking about it. Blood, needed blood and a face to break. However, he had already reached the great house of the Mugiwaras and his rage was again calmed by the thought of Law. The boy couldn't see him like this. He needed help, not violence. Without hesitation Kidd walked in and rounded the house until he reached the back where Law's room was.

He peeked through the window at the dark inside. Maybe Law wasn't home, maybe he was in the party, or had escaped the place as a rational man, maybe he...Kidd's eyes accustomed themselves to the dark. _The room was a mess_. There was broken furniture, books lying on the floor with torn pages, teared fabrics, feathers from the bed...

Kidd looked for the owner of the place slightly alarmed, until he found him lying face down on the bed with his head hidden under a pillow.

"Law?" He asked doubtfully.

Law didn't move a muscle.

Kidd pushed himself up then, jumped over the window and fell into Law's room for the second time in the day. Only that, unlike the first time, something under his boots creaked dangerously under his weight. A book. Going to the bed, Kidd pushed away the pieces of broken wood, glass and metal that were so close to Law's body, and finally climbed up onto the mattress until he was on all fours over Law lying body.

The boy still didn't react to his presence.

"Law?" he called again doubtfully, raising a hand to push back the pillow and stroke his soft black hair.

"Go away"

Kidd froze in place at that simple words. When he had approached the house, he had expected to find Law crying in a corner, he had expected him angry, yelling and cursing at him, or he had expected him to simply look at him with his beautiful grey eyes pleading for help.

The tone Law had just used however, there was absolutely nothing. Empty. Void. No emotion, not even the adorable tension he used when trying to hide what he felt. As if the brunette didn't have enough motivation to try to feel something.

That scared Kidd. He was not going to let Law get lost in the mountain of despair he was seeming to sink into. He couldn't lose him like that.

Grabbing his shoulder, he turned him on the mattress until they came face to face with Law still cocooned under him. Law looked at him not saying anything. His grey eyes were red from surely having cried, but now he only seemed immersed in a strange tranquillity. It seemed that not-feeling, the emptiness had taken a burden off him, as if he hadn't been able to deal with all the desperation and pain and his mind had just blocked any feeling to protect itself.

"Go away" Law repeated with that dead voice.

Kidd's chest hurt, but then he made a decision. He was not going to let him run away, he was not going to let him go like this, sinking into that colourless world he wanted to enter, not without fighting.

Caressing his cheek with absolute delicacy, Kidd descended on him.

He felt those exquisite lips against his and applied a little pressure until the other opened his mouth. He kissed him slowly and carefully surrendering completely to the gesture, giving him his all. But time passed and Law didn't answer him as he had done the previous times. There was no rebellion, no fighting back. Nothing.

Kidd's chest squeezed again painfully and he turned to his gesture more desperately, more eager. He was not going to let him leave, he was going to make him feel emotions whether Law wanted to or not, I was going to return the light to his eyes, make him realize that there were things that were worth feeling.

His hands slowly caressed Law's long legs, the boy having discarded the pants and now only wearing the provocative little skirt. Dear god, Kidd almost moaned when he felt Law's skin, like hot dark silk, finally under his touch. Precious. Perfect. He outlined each shape and curve of that suggestive legs from ankle to knee. He caressed a thigh up slowly, lifting the blue skirt little by little, but lowering his hand again before Law even noticed, and repeating the movement again without stopping.

Law was so hot, so delicious hot that the only thing Kidd wanted to do was to undress him delicately and lick that perfect skin from head to toe until Law melted in his mouth. He wanted to know the weak points that would make that proud boy writhe with pleasure, or the colour his eyes would turn when he managed to make him climax in his mouth.

Unfortunately, Law still didn't respond to his caresses, nor his kisses, nor to anything at all, no matter how hard he tried. Not even his breathing seemed to be slightly accelerated.

Something wet caressed Kidd's cheek and surprised, he separated from Law looking scared.

Then he wanted to scream enraged and kill someone because Law was crying under him. Not in a pathetic and disgusting way, Law was never pathetic, quite the opposite. His face had not changed a bit, his mouth didn't make any sound and his metallic eyes were just as dead as the first time Kidd had seen them tonight, but now two tars of salty water fell from them to get lost in his beautiful neck.

Kidd did not even know if Law knew he was crying. Really worried, he kissed the tears gently, wiping them away from his face, but they just wouldn't stop to fall.

"Law" he called him scared "Law it's ok, everything would be ok. Please stop crying, I'm here. I will protect you, I promise" his hand stroked his short black hair without knowing what to do or what was going on with him.

Law finally looked at him. He then smiled sideways, with the arrogant smile Kidd liked so much, but his eyes were still dead, and the gesture took on a macabre tone. Kidd swallowed frowning. Law lifted a hand and put it on Kidd's cheek, curling his fingers around the fire-red locks that fell from his head.

Such a tender gesture in such a strange situation. It didn't look right.

"What happens Eustass? Have you finally come to fuck me before they lock me in the temple and you can't do it?" he commented without tone "How nice of you, but please, do it fast, as you may know I have things to pack, and I'm sure you have more people to satisfy"

Then he dropped the hand back on the mattress, scrutinized the ceiling with his dead grey eyes, and opened his legs inviting Kidd between them to do with him whatever he wanted without seeming to care in the least.

Kidd's mind lost what little control he had, and fury and rage exploded inside him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chan chan chan, yeah I'm evil. Would Law go? Would they run away? What would Kidd do after Law had say thns? Where is Ace? Where is Marco? What is happening~
> 
> Reviews please~


	8. Good bye

The redhead looked at Law for a moment in silence, processing what he had just heard and trying to contain the pain that arose inside him. His whole body tensed, his eyes seemed to shine with a dangerous glint in them.

"Is that what you think?" He asked in a hard tone, his eyes fixed on Law's grey ones under him.

"Yes"

Kidd got away from Law, raising from the bed, as if the boy burned. For a moment, he couldn't think, pain just numbing his mind. _So that was it_. So the other didn't trust him, so for Law, this five days had meant absolutely nothing. He didn't feel anything for him. He just wanted to get rid of Kidd.

It fucking hurt.

Kidd moved across the room, unable to stand next to Law. Pain and betrayal again grew inside him like old friends. He punched the wall trying to control himself and the feelings he so much hated. Shit. Why did Law keep seeing him as a womanizer? Yeah, he had been that, but Kidd had also made it clear that he had changed, Law had made him change, he was not going to force him, manipulate him, if Law didn't want too, for god's sake, he was not a barbarian! He had shown the boy that he meant something different for him, he felt something more than lust, this thing between them was important for Kidd too.

Kidd had been stupid. He had believed that Law would accept him and like him back, he would trust him and want him by his side. It was clear now that he had made a huge mistake. Law hated him, considered him a brute as he had just shown him with those words. He just expected the redhead to satisfy his urges and leave him used.

It didn't matter. Not now. Kidd won't let himself get hurt again so stupidly. Law wanted him to leave and not see him again? Kidd could do that. He wasn't a beast, no matter what the other thought. What anyone thought.

Turning around he observed the dark-haired man on the mattress who was still not moving. It was over. If he went on like this, he would only hurt himself more and more, and Law would hate him more and more too. Kidd would not live like that.

Walking steadily, he approached the window through the messed silent room.

"I'm leaving" his gaze settled on the city illuminated with fires and torches beyond the window. The party was reaching its peak, music high in the air, laughter accompanying it "I promise you will not see me again ...I'm sorry... for all the inconvenience"

He leaned over the window, preparing to jump over it and leave all this behind, all the possibilities, a life he had dream next to this amazing boy. It was all for the best. Although it hurt as if he was tearing his heart out, although it felt wrong in every sense, it was the only thing he could do. He would not forgive himself for hurting Law. Ever.

Something gripped his clothes and a pulled him back into the mess of the room, into the bed besides the window, into where he had longed to be.

Kidd blinked.

"N-no" a voice murmured weakly, low behind him on the bed.

Turning himself until he faced the other on the bed, both sitting between the sheets, he found Law grabbing his shirt tightly, tense, almost scared. His grey eyes looked huge in his face, panicked and terrified. The dead look had disappeared and now he seemed able to start hyperventilating. He suddenly looked much younger, like the child he was, like a man whose life had been shattered.

"Law?" Kidd asked slowly, "Didn't you want me to leave?"

Law lowered his head ashamed, tense, but still without letting go of his clothes, as if his life depended on it. Kidd studied him intently. This being the first time he had seen so many emotions playing on the boy's face in such a short time, as if the mask had disappeared to reward him with what lay under.

"No," Law finally answered, slow, almost a whisper "I ..." He stopped and again his face changed, uncertainty, fear, loss, as if he did not know what to say, as if his mind didn't yet know what to do, what he wanted.

Kidd finally understood.

Law didn't trust him yet. It pissed and hurt Kidd, but he realized that he couldn't really get blame Law, he hadn't exactly been the nicest man in the last days. He couldn't blame him for calling him out after what he had tried to do to him, after the kiss, the training, the baths…Kidd hadn't intended too, but he had really played the womanizer act amazingly.

However, what made him smile tenderly wasn't that, but the way Law kept clutching his shirt without letting go. White knuckles. Trembling fist. A strength that almost teared the fabric. The boy also wanted him by his side. Just a little. It was enough for Kidd, it made the pain vanish.

Grabbing Law's hand on his shirt, he pulled from him grabbing his waist and sitting him into his lap with his head resting against his shoulder protectively. He wrapped his arms around his waist possessive and affectionate. Law did nothing, what's more, instead of pulling back as Kidd had expected, he just relaxed and let Kidd squeeze him against his strong chest.

Kidd wondered then, with the other between in his arms, at how quickly the pain and anger from a few moments ago had completely disappeared. It was impressive how the boy could play so easily with his emotions. Scary. Worrying. Maybe he had fallen too hard. Kidd frowned.

"You attract to many problems, Law," he whispered, caressing the boy's naked back reassuringly, warm smooth skin under his rugged fingers.

"Fuck you" Law mumbled, finally hugging him back and taking a deep breath against his shoulder.

Kidd smiled happily to see that Law had at least returned to be his normal self, he still had the wonderful emotions overflowing his face, the mask and control having been broken and taking time to be built back. It was actually so beautiful, hypnotizing, so tempting to just let himself go and explore the boy's little weak moment.

Unable to hold himself back, and with a hungry glint in his eyes, Kidd lowered his head to where the boy's one was still resting on his shoulder. He kissed him again, hungrily and passionately, squeezing Law exquisite body against his and sitting him more firmly on his lap. Law answered the kiss instantly, just as demanding and hungrily as him for it. Then, provocative, he wrapped his legs around Kidd's hips, the stupid skirt rolling up his tight to reveal more tanned and soft skin.

Kidd realized he wasn't wearing anything under it.

Separating from the other's lips Kidd cursed at the posture and at what it implied. Law smiled arrogantly at him still hugging him, still with his legs parted over his crotch and that little thin fabric covering the most necessary part. Fuck. Law knew what he was doing to him. That position allowed him to feel _everything_ : Law's pupils dilated and his breath accelerating, his hard nipples rubbing against his chest through Kidd's own shit…His own hard cock pressing against the other's entrance through his trousers, warm, ready, exposed.

Kidd rose a hand to the back of Law's neck, separating them slightly to look into his eyes seriously.

"Don't do this" he told him worriedly, remembering Law's previous words. He won't force him. He won't hurt or use him for his own pleasure. "You don't need to do this, it won't change anything between us. It's ok"

Law just grinned at his comment. With one of those smiles that made his blood boil like fire in his veins. Damn, that smile should be illegal. However, it felt nothing compared to when Law moved his hips over him, slow and hard, exerting friction over his raising erection and opening his legs even more to favour contact. The skirt rolled a little bit up, Law showing himself.

Kidd breathed deeply closing his eyes and trying to control the wave of lust that was beginning to invade him. It was too much. To provocative. They had not done anything yet and Kidd was already rock hard. But the visuals, the image of Law on him, moving himself eagerly over his cock almost naked, with his leg opened wide with that impressive flexibility, and that knowing smirk on his face? It was ending his little self-control.

"What makes you think I don't want you to fuck me, Kidd?" Law whispered against his lips, the voice low, little gasps escaping between the question, as if he also was getting hard with this. His sparkling eyes telling Kidd that Law knew perfectly well what he was provoking.

Kidd snapped.

Grabbing the others moving ass between his hands, he changed their positions until Kidd had the boy laid on the bed under him. He then proceeded to kiss him. The playfulness and care gone, passion, lust, and need substituting them, as Kidd delighted in Law's addictive taste.

However, Law, as the little shit he was, just raised his hips pressing their cocks together again, letting Kidd feel his hot need against his though the thin fabrics of their clothes. Kidd's fingers dug even deeper into Law's plump tight ass, pressing their bodies even closer, feeling Law's dick growing against his, damn, it would be so easy to raise that fucking skirt, to touch him, to feel him...

However, that won't do. Kidd didn't want a quickie, he wanted to take his time, learn and appreciate the other's body slowly and intently.

Letting go of the other's perfect ass, Kidd's hands instead raised and caressed the tanned body beneath him with slow, soft caresses, his legs, his exposed collarbones the tattoos on his arms. Unlike the time in the bathrooms where he had hardly touched him, this time Kidd studied Law's skin conscientiously, caressing his unprotected chest with desire, following the lines of ink, travelling with infinite patience over his abdomen, and feeling the muscles tense and relax under his hands. Law let him be strangely, submissive, relaxed, he began to hold his breath each time he felt the redhead's hands move dangerously close to the skirt making Kidd smile satisfied against his mouth.

Separating himself from the kiss, he licked up Law's jaw until he reached his earlobe where he began to nibble at the tender delicate skin there. Finally, out of curiosity he pulled at the earrings the other always wore experimentally.

Law suddenly hugged his neck as if shocked, his nails biting into his shoulders and his whole body undulating under Kidd. He even released a small contained whimper when Kidd repeated the pull. Kidd smirked. For a while, he tortured him, enjoying every little sound he could get out of clenched teeth. It was so incredible to feel Law like this, letting him do what he wanted, sighting and shivering at the slightest touch.

How could he be so sensitive?

His hands quickly began to caress the dark brown nipples on Law's chest, rolling them between his thumbs and forefingers, and then pulling at them gently, making Law begging to sight and whimper louder and louder, as Kidd pinched them harder each time. Kidd bit over his earrings again and finally Law began to urge him to go faster with his body, lower and harder, but at the same time, Kidd could feel him trying to escape from Kidd's expert hands, desire and fight mixing inside him. Surrendered to him, but at the same time, resisting to fall completely.

It was the hottest fight Kidd had ever played.

His mouth went down into the crook of Law's neck and he arched giving him more space to lick into that area. Kidd cock felt too tight in his pants. Fuck he was so damn sexy. Kidd didn't know if Law did it on purpose or by accident, but the sounds, the little movements, the way he kept trying to resist. It was driving him crazy.

He felt Law's nipples hardened to tight little nubs under his touch. Kidd didn't stop pinching and squeezing them, harder and harder each time, mercilessly, making Law squirm like crazy under him, his nails on his shoulders painful.

"Nng" Law finally said under his caress, a little moan, a beautiful soft sound "Kidd s-stop, they are beginning to hurt"

Kidd just smiled with his arrogant smile totally entertained with his new lover. It seemed that torturing the other was going to become his new hobby. He could feel Law's cock now fully erect and hard against his, his twisting body making small timidly movements against his, trying to get more friction. It wasn't enough. Kidd wanted more, so much more, he wanted Law totally lost into pleasure and moaning high and clear under him, letting go of all his control to realize that he could trust him.

"What hurts Law?" he tried.

Law glared him. His face red. His mouth opened surely to scream at him something rude, but Kidd just lowered his head not breaking eye contact and bit the little hard nipples with sharp teeth.

The moan this time _did_ fill the room.

He smirked as Law quickly covered his mouth with a hand, and closed his eyes with a frown. His other tattooed hand got tangled in Kidd's reddish hair pulling at it tightly and trying to push him away from that weak place. Kidd ignored him on purpose and continued to suck that sensitive skin, leaving red marks on it from the voracity with which he devoured him. His tongue circled around the little nubs gently as his teeth brushed dangerously against them, a subtly reminded of what he could do.

It made Law moan again. And again. Kidd was just having too much fun.

"Kidd!" Law called again, his name sounding just perfect in that pleasure filled voice "No more of that...fuck, Kidd, stop!" he ordered, almost shouting.

But the redhead felt Law's body pressing against his asking for more contact, his legs opening in invitation, his fingers gripping his hair desperately.

No, Kidd won't be stopping, this delicious skin was something addictive and he swore he could spend hours tasting it. Also, on top of that, the desperate moans that he had finally managed to tear off this proud boy were too erotic and inciting to stop them. He went on to suck on the other nipple with eagerness performing the same process, but before that he took advantage of the moment to separate himself slightly from the other and removed his own shit.

Instantly the hot, velvety skin of the boy rubbed against his own heated one igniting every nerve ending he possessed. His pale skin against Law's tanned one looked perfect, a contrast that only managed to arouse him more if that was even possible. His now painful dick beginning to throb anxiously, begging him for realise.

His hands squeezed Law's hips urging him to stop moving trying to rub their cocks together. Law made another light defiant friction against his crotch, in revenge, the redhead bit his nipple one last time, and finally, with another moan, Law separated and dropped into the mattress without any strength left. Kidd trembled as he lost that wet heat against his crotch, but controlled himself, and anxious to hear Trafalgar Law moan louder, he began to trace the other's hard dick over his skirt. The bulk now completely obvious and wet under the thin fabric now polled around his hips.

Law bit his lip hard at the touch, holding back a cry in his throat, and arching into the mattress under Kidd. His hands raised to Kidd's arms, fingers gripping him as he tried to contain the wave of pleasure that was invading him. Kidd of course, repeated the light caress, again and again and again, until Law could only lie down with his muscles tense and body rolling with each caress, moaning higher and higher as the redhead had been wanting from the beginning. No hiding this time, Law's pleasure taking the same and control away.

"How long has it been since you touched yourself, Law?" Kidd asked, still amazed at the other's incredible sensitivity.

In response, Law simply opened his legs wider, giving Kidd's hands freedom to do what they wanted to that part of his anatomy. The skirt almost felt non- existing, the cloth wet, stretched and hiding so fucking little. Kidd squeezed Law tightly in a grip. Law writhed desperately under him in search of even more contact.

Kidd licked his lips. It was unfair, Law was just so hot.

"If you are so hard with just a few caresses I can't wait to see you when I finish fucking you" the redhead whispered against his ear.

Law glared at him again, and clearly forced himself to control his reactions again. Kidd didn't allow it, his skilful hand moved again, hard, rough, Law cried again, fingers gripping him painfully.

"Kidd fuck ...stop that" Law said between clenched teeth and hoarse weak voice, almost a sob.

"Why would I do something so annoying?" Kidd murmured, squeezing more around his member and getting Law to arch again with his eyes wide open and a half scream in his mouth "Unless you want to go to skin-to-skin contact, in which case I won't complain"

Without stopping to torture on the other, Kidd rose over a spasming Law until their faces were tempting millimetres apart. He outlined Law mouth with his free hand, pressing a thumb into those tender red lips and prompting him to open his mouth.

"Tell me Law, do you want me to continue like this?" His hand picked up speed, deepening the caress, and the brunette closed his eyes again holding his breath, his whole body surrendered, his legs opening wider "Or do you prefer if I take out your clothes so I can touch you properly?"

Law gasped under him at the wonderful image Kidd had drawn in his mind. Leaning over, still pressing the thumb of one hand against Law's lower lip and his other hand torturing him vilely through his clothes, quicker, higher, until Law's hips began to move in compass.

"With my hand rubbing against you naked hard hot cock until I make you reach the biggest orgasm of your life?" he continued provoking him, his hands however stopping all movement until the room felt into a silence, only interrupted by Law's accelerated breath "What do you prefer?"

Law gasped shaking under him. Kidd knew he was being too harsh towards Law's inexperience, but he couldn't hold back, this has gone for too long, his patience was non-existent and Law was looking just too edible. Kidd stared at him, waiting for an answer with a hungry look in his eyes, his hand over his twitching member.

"...To-touch me" Law finally murmured, embarrassment on his face. Kidd knew it was degrading to say this kind of things, but exciting at the same time. Law definitely loved the dirty talking if Kidd had to guess. " More, Kidd please... please ... f-fuck me please"

Kidd shut his mouth with his own. Without waiting, he raised Law's hips with one arm, their cocks rubbed together again, showing Law that he was just as needy and hard as the younger one.

Finally, Kidd tugged and the stupid thin wet skirt of the test and pulled it free throwing it among the rest of junk of the room.

Instantly Kidd was again touching Law greedily. A possessive hand pumping his erection and a thumb rubbing at the tip mischievously. With his other free hand, Kidd opened Law's legs again, spreading and exposing him, now completely naked, to his reddish. Kidd separated a moment, needing to observe him, to memorize him as he was now.

The image was obscene, beautiful, and perfect. Law's eyes were half lidded, frowning, trying to control the pleasure. His lips were red from Kidd kisses, like his nipples covered in Kidd's hickeys, still hard, still begging to be bitten. His arms were spread at his sides, surrendered, without strength, his legs were opened, inviting and unashamed, as if begging him to fuck him, his hard-red cock was now dripping precome over a trembling stomach.

Welcoming, aroused and his.

"You're just perfect," Kidd whispered, to which Law blushed again a deep red, a beautiful deep red "I can't wait to make you mine, God Law, you're just incredible."

Kidd pressed fingers against Law's entrance and Law opened his eyes from surprise, a sudden gasp escaping his lips, his cock again twitching against his stomach. Kidd smirked. Without warning, without waiting, without lubrication. Wild and rough as they both were. Simply the one against the other.

After the little warning Kidd finally introduced a finger inside him.

Law rose on his elbows trying to hold the pain, a sound between a moan and a hiss filling the room. Kidd instantly, lowered himself and hugged him by the shoulders, spreading soft kisses over his face and hair.

"Relax, you will love it in a moment, I promise" he whispered calmly.

The redhead felt Law's arms wrap around his neck as he began to move the fingers in and out of him, opening him, working him wide gently and carefully and preparing him for what was to come. God, he felt to tight, so hot and soft, it was like liquid velvet around his fingers. His member throbbed impatient, he was not going to hold much longer.

Grasping then the Law's forgotten member between their bodies, he began to pump it with passion, hard, and quickly, until he again heard precious little sounds of pleasure come from the other's mouth. Kidd introduced a second finger, moving in and out now more easily as Law again melted into the mattress, strength leaving him and reducing him to a whimpering mass of moans. Kidd fucked him raw with his fingers adding the third final one, entering him till the knuckles, before retreating completely, moving inside him experimentally observing the reactions that caused one position or another.

Stopping and retreating when he considered that if had been enough, when Law was almost on the peak of his climax, he kissed the soft hair of the other with an evil smirk as Law sobbed in need.

Law's face was the most erotic one Kidd had ever seen and he couldn't help waiting for a moment to revel in that image. With his grey eyes lost in ecstasy, while sobs and gasps escaped from his half-open mouth. With his body trapped under his, legs impossibly wide showing his cock twitching like crazy and his entrance as in offering. He desperate from his caresses. All control loss. Conquered. Submissive. And his.

"Kidd please…. please, fuck me ... ah ... I need it, your cock ...inside... please, please" Law begged, sobbing, his whole-body trembling and waiting for him.

Kidd didn't need Law to repeat it. Lowering over him and devouring his mouth, Kidd, lowered his pants and began to slowly enter him at a slow but steady pace. He entangled his hand with Law's, intertwining his fingers between the sheets in a show of support.

Law release another painful moan, Kidd wasn't exactly average, that's why he always needed to prepare his lovers, but Law was also especially tight. A virgin too. Kidd stood there for a moment, not advancing more, waiting for Law to get used to the intrusion a little, feeling like he was being swallowed and slowly dying between the warm, liquid heat of the other.

God, it was incredible. Better than anything he could have ever imagined. So tight, so perfect, that it was hard for him not to grab the other, turn him face first in the bed, and fuck him like and animal as his body really demanded. He knew that if he did it, he would never forgive himself, especially if it hurt Law. This was their first time, Kidd needed to be delicate. Law had trusted him, had let him take him, and Kidd would not betray that little confidence. So instead he simply devoted himself to kiss Law, while the other tried to relax and accept him into his body.

"Law …" he called with a voice suddenly full of emotion God, now Law was his, he realized. Totally and completely his "Law, it's ok, you can do this".

Law moaned. Loud and clear.

Ecstasy invaded Kidd as a sense of overprotection felt over him. He was not going to let anyone separate them. Law was his now, he was not going to enter the fucking temple. If necessary, Kidd would take him away from Greece and into another country by force, it that would make him happy.

They would be together.

With that new conviction, Kidd entered even more inside the other who arched on the bed and nailed his back. He was completely inside. Balls deep into him. Kidd stopped his movements again, letting the boy feel his length inside him claiming him as his own. Showing him where he belonged, who loved him abode anything, and who was making him writhe with pleasure.

"Yes...Kidd... more, please" his grey eyes looked at him blinded by desire and Kidd loved it.

The redhead began to move with a gentle roll of his hips between Law's legs, thrusting slowly but deeply. Law raised his hips instantly performing the complementary movement almost without knowing it, and letting him enter deeper and deeper into him, almost fucking himself with Kidd's cock.

It was so fucking sexy.

Suddenly Kidd hit something inside Law, and the raven-haired boy screamed a sob, scratching his back and trashing on the bed spasmodically. Kidd smirked satisfied and quickly hit that point again with more strength, again, and again and again, accelerating more and more his thrust until he found a frantic pace.

Law's hole clenched against his hard cock so tight that Kidd grunted. However, his mission was accomplished, Law was now reduced to a mass of whining and pleading, and it had been Kidd who had done that. The face of total pleasure was making, moaning as he had never heard anyone moan, with his hard rock member dripping between their stomach, with that hoarse voice asking him for more, faster, harder... was too much. To see how the serious and proud boy had been reduced to this because of him, it was incredible.

Grasping the other's erection between them, Kidd curled his other hand under Law's hips and easily lifted the other up, letting him sit on top of him in the position in which they had started. Except that this time, there were no clothesbetween them. Law moaned even louder the position making Kidd enter _so deep_ into him, one of the redhead's hands milking his dick, the other, holding him in place as soft little touched explored the place where they were joined.

Kidd was trying to extend this as much as he could. Loving to see Law about to reach his orgasm, but, as a bastard he was, he stopped all movement suddenly, denying the dark-haired man the waited final.

Law cried and trashed about, totally desperate for more contact, for the end. When he saw that Kidd would do nothing, he tried to continue with it for himself, trying to ride the other as one of his hands grabbed his own cock without shame. A strange kind of desperation and lust on his eyes. Kidd let him do it for a moment marvelling at the hot Law in his arms, before stopping him and not letting him move.

"Kidd ... ah ... please, ... let me come ... please, please, Kidd...your cock, please" Law was starting to cry, his head on Kidd's shoulder, his whole-body trembling "I can't take it... please ... Kidd, fuck me again, please" he sobbed.

And Kidd happily fucked him raw again until he was on the edge of the precipice again where he proceeded to stopped once more. Law sobbed against his neck again, his body limp against Kidd, unable to move anymore, his muscles exhausted and trembling waiting for something that was not coming, his skin sensitive to the slightest touch, and his whole being unable to say or do anything but let the other use him as he wished.

Kidd felt his nipples tight under his fingers, purple bruises starting to appear, he felt his member a deep red throbbing and totally soaked as Kidd played with the soft tip non-stop, and he felt his ass clasped viciously around his cock, trying to suck and milk him dry.

Perfect.

"God, Law," the redhead growled against his ear, his own voice sounding strange in his ears. "You don't how much I love to see you like this."

Laying him finally on the bed again, Kidd accelerated the pace and felt the end coming. This time he didn't stop Law when his nails dig into his already bloodied back, on the contrary, he just thrusted harder, ramming into his ass, the sound of flesh hitting flesh loud in the room between Kidd grunts and Law shouts and cries. The bed rocked hitting the wall. Things felt from the bed. Kidd just focussed on Law, letting him feel every part of his body against his. His lips sought Law's anxiously, devouring them and making totally clear that what he felt for Law was something more than the lust.

Their hands found each other's. The gripped one another. Possessive. Desperate.

Law finally tensed with no more power inside him to resist it all anymore. And he shouted the most beautiful sound Kidd had ever heard. His name in his lover's lips. Kidd instantly wanted to start it all again, fuck him twice, then again and again, until he got tired of hearing that sound. However, he was also coming to the edge and after some deep and erratic thrusts against the now tense and arched body of the other, he spilled inside Law, a deep pleased sound escaping from his throat.

He collapsed on top of Law. They both laid on the bed exhausted for a while. Trying to get their breaths back, their pulse under control, his strength back. They didn't separate from the other in the slightest, they just hugged each other rolling on the bed, Kidd hugging the trembling body of Law who was having trouble coming down from his orgasm.

"You're not going to the temple," Kidd whispered sleepily against Law's "We will run away, I have friends in Rome who will welcome us, we'll be safe there" he hugged Law even tighter "I will not let you go"

Finally, Kidd fell asleep with the Law trapped in his arms returning the hug. Both wasted, tired, sated. He was happy, happier than even. Law was his. He had accepted him. He has shown him trust. Everything would be fine.

He didn't see Law's sad smile against his chest. A smile that did not show the happiness that it should show.

….oOo...

Law got up from the mattress slowly, sitting on the rumpled blankets. Kidd's arms wrapped possessively around his waist and his breath tickling his back.

He watched the redhead for a moment trying to memorize him in this moment: his face relaxed while he slept, his strong muscles now fully exposed without clothes in between, his hair stirred and scattered on his pillow.

He adored that man.

He had tried to deny it and hate him, he had tried to convince himself that the other only wanted his body for one night, that to fall in love with him would not be worthy because Kidd just wanted a one-night stand, that he would get hurt, that... But now he just couldn't lie to himself anymore.

_After this night he couldn't._

Kidd had made it completely clear. He loved him. Not only the physical part, his lust, his desire, his body, no, he seemed to want to make him laugh, he awed at his knowledge, at his skills, as his tantrums. Curiously, Law had to admit that the feeling was completely mutual. He loved Kidd's warm body too, his smart mouth, his teasing hands, but also his confidence, his smirks, the way he could annoy him with just a look of those red eyes.

Law didn't understand it. He did not understand how in less than a week, the man who now purred satisfied on his bed, had become a fundamental part of his life.

It hurt

With his typical neutral expression, totally hiding what he was thinking, he raised a hand and stroked Kidd's fiery hair. He loved his intense colour, how soft it was or how it fell wildly on his forehead. His hand came down and began to delineate his cheek and jaw, calmly, trying to catch every slight sensation that the man could offer him, the warmth, the happiness, the safety...

Kidd, still asleep, rubbed against his hand as a cat would against the hand that caresses him. Law stopped without wanting to wake him up. His mind began to work as Kidd began looking for him in the bed, juggling Law tightly when he spotted him sitting on the edge.

Law kept watching him during the last hours of the night, with his hand stroking his hair, his back, his face and everything he could reach. Slowly entering into state of strange calm and serenity as the idea fluttered more and more insistent in his head.

Until he made the decision.

Closing his eyes, he observed the mental perfect image he had memorized of Kidd hugging him in his sleep. With his lips parted in a soft smile, with his huge hands on his hips and his body refusing to separate from him.

That would be enough.

Slowly he lowered his hands to Kidd's and gently unwrapped them from his waist until Kidd released him completely. Careful not to wake him up, he got out of bed. Kidd stirred uncomfortably on the bed looking for him again, but finally, he lied back on the sheets and continue to sleep with a frown on his face.

Law, in the darkness, smiled at him with affection.

He looked around the room for something that he could wear, since the clothes of the previous night had been destroyed, or were not presentable enough. He dressed then in silence listening to the relaxed breathing of Kidd who slept without realizing anything at his back. Then he picked up some things he found around the room, some books, a few more clothes, a blanket, and put them in a travel bag.

Finally, he stood back in the middle of the room paralyzed.

His sight landed on the man in his bed again, almost without realizing it. He couldn't delay this much longer; the sun was beginning to rise. Approaching Kidd again, he caressed his hair removing it from his forehead affectionately.

He noticed then the wristbands that still adorned his own forearms. Looking at them intensely, he took them off almost reverently and left them beside Kidd on the bed carefully. He looked again at Kidd. He was so perfect, so fun to be with, so powerful, so strong and tender. Law's fingers gently stroked the strong lips again, as if he was a magnet that could not move away from Kidd for more than two seconds.

Law knew Kidd was going to be happy.

Leaning down, he placed his lips on Kidd's with exaggerated delicacy and inhaled his scent without moving. Then he leaned his forehead desperately over the other's one, selfishly pleading that he would not wake up.

"Goodbye Kidd," he whispered against his lips with a fake smile on his face. "I love you too." And without further delay he quickly separated from him, turned around, and took the backpack.

He left the room without even looking back, since he knew that if he did, he would hesitate and he could not allow himself to doubt. Not now.

Silently, he crossed the silent house and went out into the street. The vestiges of the previous day's party were still scattered through the streets with people sleeping on the floor and drunks in an ethyl coma. Law walked silently dodging the bodies and making his way through the known streets to the temple.

Once he saw the columns of gleaming white, he doubted for the first time since he had made the decision. This was the last moment in where he would be free to go wherever he wanted, see whoever he wished, dress his clothes, eat, or kiss whoever he wanted ...

It was the last moment of his life.

Upon entering, he abandoned his dreams, abandoned his own, abandoned everything he believed in.

But there was no other option. Kidd's promises were beautiful, and even tempting ... but impossible to do. If he rejected the decision of the assembly, he would be persecuted and exiled from Greece. He couldn't run away, even to Rome, he couldn't fight a God. Besides, Kidd would also be troubled for help him, and he couldn't do that to the redhead. Kidd already had his life set up in this little town. He was a general, he had friends, family and people who appreciated and love him. Law couldn't ask him to leave everything behind for someone he had only known for five miserable days, no matter how much in love he was.

It just wasn't fair.

But he knew that Kidd would have tried to stop him, or threaten him, or kidnap him by force, if he refused to go with him. He was so stubborn, like Law himself. Just thinking about it, made Law smile. The redhead loved him, Law had realized it last night when Kidd had looked into his eyes desperate, not letting him think about anything but his kisses. Before the sex, before the confessions. Law suspected he had known it from the start, but had not dared acknowledge it,

However, that little love was enough for him. Law didn't need anything else. He won't take anything more from Kidd.

That's why he had left without saying goodbye to anyone. It was better this way. No absurd tears, no fights, no shouting. Only him in front of the silent white colonnade.

Law gasped, pressing his chest and trying to control the tears.

He was lying to himself. He didn't want to get in there. He just wanted to go back to bed with Kidd and study medicine with Kureha. He had not asked for more. He didn't want to conquer the world, he didn't want mountains of fame and money. He just wanted to go home.

He clenched his fists in anger at himself and took a deep breath destroying that weakness inside him. He wasn't an orphan child anymore. He was an adult, he knew his responsibilities and its consequences. He wasn't a coward either, he would not allow himself to be.

Looking at the columns with his angry eyes, he took one step and then another and another until the dark looming and silent temple swallowed him.

His last thought before disappearing from the world was that he did not regret anything, after all, this was his duty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you think it's ironic how Law was afraid of Kidd fucking him and then leaving him behind, and now he is the one doing it? Well, well, I know half of you want to kill me right now, but lets be positive, I gave you a lemon, a very nice one from my point of view, shouldn't that deserve a review?
> 
> As always, you can find me in Tumblr, or join the KidLaw chat in skype. 
> 
> See you next time my friends.


	9. Reactions

* * *

 

The morning entered the great hall of the Mugiwaras with a warm summer breeze. The room was full of the beautiful mosaics, shelves full of books and an imposing military decoration. It was larger than the office where they usually met, where he had met Law for the first time, the garden views were much more beautiful from here.

The four men in the room however were ignoring all the beauty and laid seated in the deep looming silence. All thinking about _that_.

The two legitimate sons of the family were sitting together in one of the armchairs in a shocked silence. Ace, had just woke up a few minutes ago with the biggest hangover of his life and had just now received the horrible news. He now was like a statue, with his head in his hands, pale, looking sick and paralyzed.

Luffy, the youngest of the brothers, had the same expression of defeat and betrayal on his face. His eyes were wet with tears but he was managing to contain it by sheer will. He hadn't move from Ace side for even a second as if his brother sole presence could help him overcome all this.

Then the grandfather of the family, the old man with grey hair who had a neutral and serious expression on his face, as if it the news hadn't affected him in the least. However, if you looked closer you could see how his fists were tightly clenched, how his eyes hid a deep huge anger, or how the frown was slightly more dangerous than usual.

Eustass Kidd, general of the Delphi army, was the last man on the room. He kept pacing around the room like a caged animal wanting to escape from his prison and murder the first man who came too close. He seemed to be on the verge of screaming and lashing out at any moment. His hair was a mess, his clothes undone, teared, dirty. His hands keep clenching and unclenching as if he needed to grab into something. A blade. A spear. A neck.

He still couldn't believe it, reality was just too horrible to be true.

 _Law had abandoned him_. Forever.

Kidd didn't understand. It just didn't make any sense. Not after yesterday. Not after...

"I can't believe he did this" Garp murmured "I don't understand."

Kidd glared. A wild, insane red glance. He stopped his pacing around the room, as if suddenly he had been poked with a burning iron. Luffy looked at him, but his eyes looked so lost to do or say anything.

"Maybe if someone hadn't gone partying selfishly and had been supporting him when he needed it the most, he wouldn't have left this way" he hissed with furry.

Garp and Luffy looked at him surprised, knowing deep down that he was right, that they had not supported Law when he needed them. Even so it was the first time that the redhead, had spoken to them like this. So full of anger. Two betrayals in a day were more than they could assimilate.

"What did you say?" Ace asked, standing up and facing Kidd. Reassuming to violence as Kidd was going to get over the pain. They were soldiers after all, they only knew how to deal with things in one way.

Kidd glared at the young boy, violence contained in every line of his body, tense, prepared to fight. They both needed to let off the pain, they needed to get rid of that feeling of frustration and betrayal, a good fight would help with the pain and...

Garp slapped a table with clenched fists, hard, loud, attracting their attention. The man looked tired, pained and helpless. He watched them both with a dangerous glint in his eyes, and the two of them retreated into their previous positions. Garp was the commander, if they wanted to fight they would have to do it elsewhere.

"Stop being childish" the old man ordered with a "Eustass I won't tolerate you insulting my family. Ace, I haven't educated you to be like this, we're civilized people, not barbarians"

The redhead looked at him annoyed, the rage and storm still curling around him, but after a moment he ignored the man and resumed walking. This were his allies, this people wanted to help Law too, he shouldn't hurt them, no matter his emotions.

"I don't know why Law has left us so suddenly without even saying goodbye, but we can't do anything about it" Garp finally let go, leaning back in his seat with that tired face "... after all, it was his decision"

Ace and Luffy lowered their heads saying nothing.

_Accepting it._

"What the fuck?!" Kidd roared, walking to stand in front of the table on which the old man was sitting. The commander frowned at him, Kidd clenched his fists, containing the murderous instincts "You are not going to do anything?"

"No" the old man repeated "It was his decision and you should also accept it ... although I still don't understand why you are so upset, you barely knew Law, why so angry?" he asked him inquisitively.

Kidd ignored the question. Instead he looked at the old man holding his gaze, showing his horrible emotions in his eyes. Rage going to a deep disappointment. Garp returned the glance, angry for a while, but in the end, he turned away, unable to stand Kidd's red eyes.

"You know why Law entered the temple like this," Kidd hissed low, with a strange calm tone that failed to fool Garp. The man trembled in front of him. Squirming as if in shame.

And then he replied simply.

"Yes" he commented "It was his duty"

Kidd wanted to scream. Kidd, Garp, Ace...they all knew exactly why Law had entered the temple. It was not because of such bullshit as duty or honour. Law had never been like that. It was because he had no other fucking choice but to accept it. Because he believed that they would not be able to do anything to stop this all, because he was protecting them, saving them the trouble, allowing them to live normal lives. Law was sacrificing himself for them.

"You are not going to do anything" it was a fact, not a question. Kidd finally understood it. They were cowards.

"No" plain and simple.

Kidd left the room slamming the door a moment later, his eyes ones of a mad man. Ace and Luffy looked at their grandfather without believing it, without wanting to accept that Garp, their hero, would do nothing to save his brother. What if it had happened to them?

Garp's stood up with slumped shoulders and left the room without saying a thing.

Luffy began to cry silently. Ace circled his brother's shoulders with his arm and stroked his hair while trying to contain his own tears. He still couldn't understand it. How his life had turned into such a bad way in just a few hours.

They would not see Law again.

Ever.

...oOo…

Hours later Marco walked across the training field inspecting the row of boys squared in front of him. This year, the newcomers he had to train made a total of five boys, and among them was the dark-haired one who had caught his attention so much.

Marco proceed to explain them then how the army worked and what they were going to do in the following months. It mostly implied training to increase the resistance and strength of the boys at the beginning, it was also the hardest part when entering the army and the one that showed the difference between an average soldier and a leader. Then they would go to the specializations, with swords, horses and the rest.

He explained them that he had gone himself through the process and remembered it with a mixt of terror and affection. Mostly terror, thanks to Kidd, but, they would survive. Or at least, most of them. It was in those first months where everything started. Where you put the basis of what you would become later, where you got real friends, developed skills.

It was there where he had started his friendship with Kidd, whom he now considered a twin brother.

Marco frowned at the thought of his friend. Kidd had not shown up today in the training camp. It was the first time in all their history together where he hadn't come, Kidd _always_ came to train, even when he was sick or with an impressive hangover. Why hadn't he come today?

Sighing, he looked at the five serious boys, assessing them. Half of them were looking green, probably they were trying to overcome the hangover from last night's party. Then there was Ace. His face could have belonged to a dead man, his gaze fixed on the ground, his skin pale, and he didn't seem to be paying enough attention to what Marco was saying.

It curiously pissed him off.

Another blond newbie who seemed to be Ace's friend and who, if Marco remembered correctly, was called Sabo, kept looking at his friend with a worried look, as if knowing what was happening but not daring to say or do anything.

Marco already disliked him badly.

"Well, now let me show you the camp so you can orientate yourselves" he commented, hoping that walking would help Ace forget his dark thoughts.

Most of the boys hurried quickly behind him excited and trying to hide his headache, but it did not escape Marco that the two friends separated a bit from the group as if needing a little space to talk.

Marco convinced himself that he didn't care about it.

They toured the camp while the blond explained to the boys more or less how it was assembled. There was a part with white and elegant tents where the high commanders met to discuss tactics or simply study how they could better train the soldiers. There was also a series of tents where the armour, weapons or fighting material were kept. Marco let the kids go into one of those for a while to explore and when they left everyone's eyes shone with excitement.

Even Ace's. Marco sighed with relief.

Then I show them the stables, the training camps, even the latrines. In the last one he explained that one of the punishments for disobedient soldiers was to send the rebel to clean those few holes where more than two hundred soldiers met their needs. It was a lie obviously, still the face of panic some put made it clear that they would obey him.

God, it was so fun to mess with the rookies.

At the end of the morning the training finally began and he made the boys ran in circles around one of the free lanes. He smiled proudly when he saw that the five boys held up without gasping in tiredness. Apparently, this year he would have a decent group.

He took that moment to look at Ace worriedly. The brunette seemed a little better than a few hours ago, but he was still with his mind elsewhere, not paying attention to what he was doing. Marco had lost count of the times when he had stumbled over a stone in his path and almost fell to the ground.

He sighed, the view making him almost cringe each time the boy stumbled.

"Ace," he called "come here"

The boy paled a bit, probably thinking about the latrines he had spoken earlier, but obediently, he approached him.

"Is something wrong soldier?" The blonde asked when he had the youth in front of him.

Ace looked at him surprised for a moment, with those deep black eyes of his, like a night full of stars, before lowering his head again with a hurt look.

"Not really," he began "It's just... family problems... my brother went to the temple this morning without saying anything to anyone. We...won't see him again" he said in a slightly broken voice.

His brother? the arrogant raven boy with tattoos? Well, it explained many things, including why Kidd had not come today to train, fuck he had fallen deeper than Marco had predicted. Still it was weird that no one had tried to stop him, especially taking into account how overprotective Garp and Kidd were. Normally in these situations the families fought, they asked for another trial before the assembly. It never changed the decision, but still, it allowed them to have a few more days with their loved ones.

But if the boy had left on his own, ignoring his family and friends...

Well. Shit.

Marco watched the boy in front of him who was again lost in his thoughts with that hurt look again in his eyes, with those clenched fists, with that betrayed frown. He looked as if he was about to cry.

Marco, of course, had then a terrible desire to hug him, comfort him, and tell him that everything would go well between soft kisses. But that would be too weird, wouldn't it? Where had all this shit came from? He had never been...romantic? God help him. He didn't even know the boy, they had shared but a few words, he was Garp's son, Marco was his superior, it wasn't the moment and...

He sighed. Yeah, he was his superior, and as that, he should not allow the child the slightest weakness, he needed to strengthen and turn him into a ruthless soldier.

Still...

"You can go home if you're not well, Ace" Marco proposed "After all, today we will do nothing but run around trying to gain a bit of resistance. You seem to have enough of that already"

Great! Now he was subtly praising him as a fool in love. He was so fucking done. Ace was mourning his brother and Marco flirted with him. He was such a great general.

He couldn't have a relationship with one of his recruits! Garp will murder him! He had to finish with the strange obsession!

Ace was looking at him a surprised, grateful. Marco tried to hide his thoughts with an innocent smile. Ace shook his head.

"No, I'm fine, it'll be alright in a few days," he said with little smile appearing on his face.

Marco hated the smile the instant he saw it. It was simply too false, too sad and self-deprecating for Ace's freckled face. Without realizing it, Marco frowned and clenched his fists impotent, with that strange protectiveness rumbling in his person.

He couldn't do anything to the other, no hug, no touch, no patting his head, he reminded himself. So he simply nodded towards the field giving the minor permission to return to the training.

When Ace got enough far away from him, Marco clicked his tongue angrily with himself and with the world in general. It was not even mid-day and he was already pissed. God, where was Kidd when he needed to punch someone?

...oOo…

Kidd hit the door furiously once more while the people in the street looked at him in terror. He didn't give a fuck. Anything else didn't' matter. He had been pounding and shouting expletives for half an hour on that damned piece of wood, but as always, the door of the temple remained sealed.

No one ever saw the deepest parts. The god's chambers. The real temple.

"Law!" he screamed feeling his throat raw from his shouts "Law come out of the damn temple and move your tattooed ass up here" he shouted furiously giving another kick to the door.

The people on the street had formed a circle around him and looked at him as if he had gone mad. And maybe he had indeed turned mad.

"Isn't him the new general?"

"Who is Law?"

His mind ignored them. His mind was simply focused on the door of the temple. He was going to enter, period. He was going to kidnap Law and get them out of this damn place. Then he was going to fuck him until the brunette couldn't walk away from him, and couldn't even remember his name and his stupid plans and ideas.

But the huge wooden door stood in his way. It was too big to be smashed with fists or even a blade. It was too strong to break it, so all he could do was beat it with raw knuckles and wait for someone to open it from the inside.

Or course it never happened. It would be a blasphemy

He shouted again and gave another punch full of his frustrations to the door. Deep down, he knew this was impossible. The door was not going to open no matter how hard he hit it. It never opened. It only did it for someone to enter the temple and serve the god. Nobody ever came out. And he was not going to be let in.

But he could not stop. That would be like recognizing that he had lost Law forever. It would be like surrendering and giving up. He couldn't do it, not after seeing Law surrendered under him, after having made him his at last, after having seen that desperate look for help or the one full of love when he had kissed him in the middle of that ecstasy ... he could not leave him, he had promised, he had said he loved him, that this was not a game. He couldn't betray Law's trust. It was not an option.

_But what happened when it was him the betrayed one?_

Kidd did not know what to think about what Law had done, but definitely, he was not going to think too much about it. He'd get Law out of there, there was nothing else to think about. There was no questioning or wondering anything.

He hit the door again furiously and, finally he heard armour at his back. He knew who that was and why they were here, but he ignored them.

"Law, fuck you, stop hiding and get out here you coward" he hoarsely shouted knowing that his time was running out.

"Kidd, stop this nonsense and leave this place" ordered a familiar voice.

What? So they had sent Marco to stop him? his dearest friend? Assholes! He hit the door again, ignoring everything and calling Law back.

"Kidd, I don't want to do this and you don't want me to do it" Marco reminded him too what would happen "Please stop"

Kidd continued to ignore him as if he couldn't hear him. Marco sighed tiredly and Kidd wanted to scream when he heard that simple words.

"Get him"

The fight erupted around him as a group of five regular soldiers tried to trap and immobilize him. Of course, he resisted and returned the furious attack. He threw punches and kicks without really knowing what he was hitting. His mind was still focused on the door.

"Law!" he shrieked, his voice pathetically broken.

Two soldiers finally managed to immobilize his arms and push him away from the door, but still they couldn't handle him and was taking them too much effort to maintain the grip. After a while it was clear that they were not going to be able to stop him, he was a general after all, so Marco intervened.

Kidd was too busy trying to break free from the soldier holding him by the waist, so he couldn't defend himself in conditions when Marco pressed his thumb into a strategic nerve between his neck and shoulder.

He collapsed instantly on the floor with no strength left in his muscles to hold into. He felt his chest collide with Marco's and his friend's arms wrapped around his waist and shoulders holding him easily in place.

Kidd then wanted to hit him in the face for having done that to him, for not helping him as a friend should do, but his body just couldn't respond. It would take half an hour for his body to start working again.

Lucky Marco.

"Come on Kidd, let's get out of here," the blonde murmured against his ear, gently charging him as a friend would do for his drunk friend. "Let me invite you to a tavern."

Kidd grunted without being able to say anything else. Stupid Marco for understanding him so well. Stupid world for always going against him. Stupid Garp for doing nothing. Stupid Law for not believing in them.

Unable to move and without the willpower to do it even if he could, Kidd let the blonde man lead him down the street while the curious group of people began to dissolve.

A well-known tavern crossed their path and Kidd felt the anger transform into something worse. A knot gripped his throat and his vision blurred. A deep wounding pain spread on his chest. This time Kidd didn't know if Marco would be able to help him overcome this. He had never felt so fucking shattered.

Maybe, after all, drinking was not such a bad idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know, where is Law? Are they really gonna leave him like that? Would Kidd turn into an alcoholic? Where the hell os Zoro? Let's go slowly, the next few chapters will be solely dedicated to Law, so no worries, about Kidd, well, I can't tell much, but he would overcome it, I promise,
> 
> Again, thanks for the reviews, for reading and for the suport, love you guys.


	10. New Beginings

Law picked up the wet wiping cloth for the eighteenth time and drained it in the bucket full of brown water. Then, he bent over the the marble floor again and rubbed the cloth over the surface until he could see his reflection in the stone as if it was a mirror.

He had been cleaning the floor of this huge room that only two people had walked into for the last hundreds of years, all morning. Still, i was nothing compared to what he had been ordered to do other days. At least today he was in the shade, and not bent over the arid soil with the sun burning his back.

_They hated him._

Apparently his honest comment in the test had spread into this place of fanatics like a fire, and he couldn't spend a day in which he did not have to pay for it. He had seen the other blond boy with whom he had taken the test several times in the temple, Bellamy, fully integrated with the rest of the boys of his age and, of course, laughing at his back.

Law already hated this place and he hadn't even spent two weeks in it. The first day had not been very terrible, they had added him into the temple followers in a ceremony that tied his soul to the god's or something similar, and then they had showed him the temple and gave him a tiny room that he supposedly had to share with a boy who had never appeared.

Then he had found himself alone since he had taken his decision.

He had quickly gone to the bath room to relieve the tension of the day and get rid of the feeling of Kidd's touch still impregnating in his skin, the smell of home, his old clothes. God he missed it all. As they say "You do not know what you have until you lose it", and Law had lost absolutely everything. He missed the walks with Ace in the afternoon through the market, Luffy's dumb comments as they ate the delicious dishes of the house, or Garp's stupid, over-protectiveness. He missed his stallion, Penguin, his books, the hot springs of the neighborhood where he discussed had gone all his life.

But still, he couldn't think of Kidd.

The pain and sadness was too recent to be remembered. His chest tightened intensely and won't let him breathe, his eyes watered, his body paralyzed...He just couldn't think about that.

Trying not to think about it as he had been doing since he entered the temple, Law focused simply on cleaning the floor. Rub, rinse, drain. Rub, rinse drain. It was so ironic what his life had become because of the order of a single person. From the amazing books of medicine and applied chemistry, he had gone to the mop and scrub the floors. From have people who loved and supported him, to be surrounded by people who only wanted to take revenge on him and destroy him.

Law hated the people there, all with a blinded faith in God, laughing behind his back because he believed in filthy books instead of the impossible miracles. They despised his intelligence and knowledge, and believed themselves superior with his stupid prayers and praises, and, as if that was not enough, trying to ruin his life whenever they could.

That's why he was cleaning this room.

The job had been for another girl, but she had alleged, with complicit chuckles, that she had a terrible headache, and then the priest had walked around the apprentice room until he had stopped in front of Law, who had just come from the gardens with mud on his clothes. He still remembered the satisfied and cruel smile the man had given him when he had ordered him to do all this.

Law didn't care about all that hate and forced labor. Why take revenge when you couldn't get any benefit from doing it? Because of pride? The one he had lost when they had sent him to this place as if it was nothing? No, he no longer had strength or reasons to fight or stand up, and besides, physical tasks like this one distracted his mind enough not to think about...things he definitely didn't want to think about.

Even so it was true that his body began to resent all this routine.

He got up before the sun came up and helped with the other apprentices prepare breakfast, which consisted in some disgusting porridge of wheat and a very hard crust of bread. Then they prayed and prayed in the temple, and when Law thought that his legs had already died forever because they had been sitting in the same position for ages, they would get up again and fix the temple to perfection. Then another water-based meal with something floating thing on it, and up to bed.

Law used the last hour of the day to bathe. At that hour the people were comfortably asleep and the pool completely empty. The water was warm from the heat of the sun and he could see the sky full of stars through the hole in the ceiling.

He would spend hours swimming there. Enjoying the only free moment he had, remembering the names of the constellations in the sky and trying not to forget any of his stories or knowledge of astronomy, and then, when he felt his fingers wrinkled or the night too cold, he returned to the bed.

He sighed wishing that it was already night, or that at least, the room was not so big.

Actually, it was one of the biggest he had seen. The temple from within was much larger than what was perceived from outside. The public rooms dedicated to the common people who came to pray in the temple, were only a small portion compared to the rest. There were two main pavilions separating men and women as always. It had kitchens in which one could cook for an army, study rooms where the sacred books were read and the oracle chambers.

And then there were the forbidden apartments of the god and the high priests that no one could access without permission at the risk of punishment. That place that from the beginning had tempted his curiosity and had made him plan several strategies to sneak in.

Suddenly a few steps sounded on the marble behind him.

"Trafalgar Law?" Someone asked making the words echoed in the huge room with white columns and high ceilings.

Law raised his head with a tired face trying to guess what he would be ordered to do this time. Peel mountains of potatoes? Laundry? He swore that if he was asked again to take care of the grass from the garden he would murder someone. However, the man in front of him was someone he had never seen before. Tall, serious and much more muscular than all the priest in this depressing place.

"Yes?" he answered frowning.

"Follow me" ordered the other turning around with the confidence of someone who knows that they will be obeyed "The god wants to see you"

Law blinked¡for a moment. The God? Why? Law knew that he had entered the place because of him, but he had not seen him once since he had arrived, and at the end, he had supposed that it had only been a revenge against him for what he had said during the test. He hadn't expected the god to actually care about him.

Stumbling to his feet, he followed the other man through the corridors of the temple. They walked through corridors, crossing people who gave Law angry glances and bowed respectfully to his guide. They went deeper into the temple towards the forbidden and sacred areas where the god and the high priests lived. Law without hesitation made a mental map of the area planning future and not so legal visits.

"When you're in front of his grace, don't look at him in the eyes" the dark man who was his guide suddenly began "Don't speak unless he asks you, and remember your place when you do it, do not complain, do not protest and do anything he asks" he warned him.

Law nodded resignedly but unconsciously put on his impenetrable mask hiding his emotions and protecting himself.

Finally, after going through labyrinthine corridors that were exactly the same, they came to a room. Calling it huge would be a misjudgment. It was _vast_. The towering marble ceiling was decorated with detailed drawings of stories from mythology. So many, that Law knew that he could spend hours contemplating them and remembering their stories. The floors were covered with precious carpets from the neighboring Persian Empire and the golden colonnade of the east wall, showed an impressive covered garden that looked like a jungle, with a huge swimming pool in the center to bathe, the size three times bigger than the one he used with the rest of the boys.

The furniture that covered it was also mesmerizing. A huge bed against a wall seemed able to engulf you completely between the soft cushions and blankets of a fabric which Law had never seen before, but which seemed to be very _very_ soft. There were gilded chairs with Egyptian decorations, sober trunks of dark oak from the north filled with books in strange tongues, a few tables with impossible meals that with their simple vision made Law begin to salivate. Was that a peacock? Rice?

It was a place beyond imagination.

That one room surpassed any luxury or fantasy that he could have ever imagined. Not even the emperor of Rome could have such a place. His guide led him right to the center of the room and made him kneel on a rug of flowery patterns with a sharp hit to the back of his knees. No mercy. As always.

"Here is the boy you wanted, sir"

It was then that Law noticed the huge man lying on one of the sofas, quietly basking in the sun that poured through the columns through the transparent curtains. Quickly he felt fingers digging into his neck pushing his head to the ground reminding him that he could not look at his lordship.

He gritted his teeth and when the hand pulled away from his head, this time Law was more careful to study the god, turning his head slightly and raising his eyes subtly.

The man had blond hair and he really looked like the statue he had seen in the temple. With that muscular chest, the arrogant posture of a man who had ruled since he was two years old, and the strangest crooked smile he had ever seen in his life. He wore trousers like those of gladiators, his chest bare except for a kind of open long jacket like the ones used by barbarians and a gold medallion decorating his chest.

He heard the man get up and come up to stand in front of him. Law held his breath preparing fro what was to come, as the light breeze rustled the curtains, making them ripple in the silence of the room.

He watched those strong, huge legs grew near, flex and the man knelt in front of him.

His guide shifted uncomfortably, while Law tried with all his strength not to look up and see the face of the man who had ruined his life, who had taken everything away and locked him here. The man gave a slight chuckle and raised a hand resting it on his chin. Law allowed the other to raise his head to look at him, and finally, his eyes moved on his own to search that face.

Violet.

Those damn eyes that he had seen the first time in the temple and had thought that couldn't belong to a human were again in front of him in all his glory. He trembled again, feeling again the weight of that impressive look on him, cutting off his breath, pressing against his chest, stronger, more powerful ...

He gasped stunned.

"Simply incredible" said the god for the first time, in a voice so deep and powerful that Law knew he could die if the other fancied it. The blonde's finger delineated his lower lip gently catching the accelerated breathing that escaped from his mouth.

The violet eyes kept scrutinizing him as if searching anxiously for something in him, all with that amused and dangerous glint that made Law sweat. Suddenly the God released him, got up and Law lost eye contact.

He breathed again.

"He is the only one who has been able to hold my gaze without fainting at such short distance" the blond man commented suddenly addressing Law's guide "Not even you resisted it, Vergo"

Law regained his strength and rage thanks to the air again in his lungs and watched as the blond man rested one hand on the shoulder of the man named Vergo with the same amused air he had used with him. Vergo frowned.

"Well, Trafalgar Law, do you know who I am?" The blond asked, again focusing all his attention back on him and leaving Law drowsy with his weird gaze.

Fuck it!

"The god of Delphi" Law hissed, giving him a look of pure hatred, ignoring the rule of not looking at the god's face and pretending, between all that, that he wasn't suffocating.

The god laughed cheerfully approaching him, he knelt again. Vergo behind him shifted uneasy and clenched his fists strongly, promising that this lack of respect was going to be painful.

"Yeah, well," the man rubbed his chin and leaned closer. Law concentrated on normalizing his breathing trying not to show any weakness "that's one of my innumerable names, but you Law, you can call me Doflamingo"

Law didn't know what was happening, but he couldn't ignore the tone of that last sentence. A low, soft tone, gentle, but with that suddenly serious look he gave him, the man looked more intimidating than ever. This wasn't a suggestion. It was an order from a god.

"Dofla-mingo," Law hissed weakly, trying to spell out the strange name and maintain his composure.

"Yeah, fu fu, very well" he replied again with that quick smile, flattering him as if Law was a dog that had managed to understand his master for the first time.

Law frowned.

But before he came up with an ingenious comment, which might offend but not seem like an actual insult, the blond took his arm and jerked him up leaving him standing.

"And now Vergo, leave us alone, Law and I have a lot to talk about" and without any more promptly he pulled Law into the courtyard with the pool, leaving behind the pissed off Vergo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but I wanted to introduce Doffy, and explain Law's first steps in the temple. From now on I would focus more on the problems and other parts but it will be centred just in Law. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this, as always thanks for the comments and support, love you.


	11. Civilized Conversation

Law drank from an exquisitely decorated mug filled with a cold, brown and dense drink that smelt delicious. He drank slowly, trying not to notice the hunger inside him or how much he appreciated a drink so different from the sticky porridge of the last weeks.

The God in front of him drank from a cup similar to the one he had in his hands without ever taking his eyes off him, scrutinizing him with that violet eyes that Law was beginning to get used to, but that still felt disturbing. The older man was reclining in a golden chair slightly taller than Law's in a clear attempt at psychological intimidation. A thing that curiously was working perfectly despite knowing what he intended.

They were both peacefully accommodated in the covered patio with the huge pool of water at their side reflecting the impressive ceiling and the wild decoration of the room. The jungle of plants enveloped them creating a more intimate and informal atmosphere without becoming overwhelming. Strange birds that Law had not noticed before, swarmed through the pavilion, sang to him and approached them with their colorful plumage as if their presence did not matter to them the least. Doflamingo had been explaining to him that they came from the other part of the world, a places so far away that it had not even been discovered.

Everything in this ooms would cost a simple man years of travels and mountains of money. The God had been showing him the power and strength he had, pointing out with "casual" comments that he could practically get everything he wanted or desired without too much effort, just asking for it one day and having it in his hands the next.

Law had simply nodded to everything the man showed him -each one more extravagant than the previous- without changing his face of indifference in the least. As if the gold of convoluted patterns that decorated the columns, or the comfortable sofas that seemed to engulf him like a cloud, was something he lived with every day. He didn't want to be impressed in the least by the blonde, he was denying him the satisfaction of knowing that those stories from distant and remote places fascinated him as much as the mountains of books he had seen earlier on the shelves of the halls. He just walked around looking at things with an air of boredom and without asking or commenting on it.

"What do you think?" The blond asked again with a tight smile on his face, referring to the strange concoction they held in their hands. Law could tell he was forcing himself to smile despite the clear irritation in his eyes, as if the fact that Law was not amazed and ecstatic with what he had just shown, bothered him.

"Nice, it's nothing like what I've drank before," Law replied, without giving his real opinion or being particularly pleased, continue playing the game he had been playing during the last two hours they had been talking.

The blond broadened his smile even more in response, as if Law's indifference didn't bother him either. His eyes shone with an intelligence and amusement that told Law that the God knew perfectly well what he was doing, but that still he was liking to see him try to oppose him.

He also had that tension in his face still. Despite his efforts to appear nonchalant, it was definitely bothered him. Law smirked internally.

The blond should not be used to being treated like an ordinary person, Law thought, and even if at first sight he was amused by his attempt at indifference, it was really starting to piss him off. He clearly had been hoping for Law to drop off his facade after a while in the eccentric place. As if all men lowered his guard at some point while visiting the place, greed and fascination taking the place over the alarm and uneasiness. However Law won't fall, his mask didn't shake even a bit no matter what the other showed him. Law just remained serious and indifferent, which would only mean one thing to the blonde: That he was not really impressing Law as much as he had expected.

A blow to his pride and giddiness. Well, fuck him.

"It's called chocolate," murmured the blonde man, taking his own glass to his mouth and taking a little bit "but there are still sixteen centuries left for it to reach this continent, and even more so that they learn to prepare it in an edible way."

Law said nothing to the comment, but after it he began drinking the concoction as if it was the nectar of immortality, though, as always, keeping the mask of boredom. The thing really tasted good, creamy, with a dep flavour, sweet...he just might be too hungry. After a while the cup was empty and Law had a bitter aftertaste in his mouth and wanted more.

"I'm glad you like it" commented the blonde man looking at him intensely as he refilled the cup with the jug. With a slight look of triumph in the eyes.

Law frowned, realizing then his small slip. Shit. He had given the other a slight advantage over him. He didn't know what the other could do anything with it, Law doubted that the man would try to bribe him with "chocolate", but even so it had been a slip. A slip that could turn into something worse if it went on like this. Law had to concentrate and think, not let the other manipulate him as he wished, no matter how good the chocolate was or how wonderful it was the man's knowledge of the world. Law had to beat him in the game.

He knew that the blond was showing him all that, showing him such luxury and power for some reason in particular. The same reason he had forced him into the temple and the one that had ruined his life. Just thinking about it, he felt his stomach stirring tense and doubtful.

He looked at the cup in front of him again with the delicious dark brown drink steaming coldly. Inviting him to try it. Tempting him to surrender. To just stop pretending and enjoy the drink. Let him be pampered by the blond, accept what he wanted and live happily there.

The image of his family appeared clear in his mind.

"What do you want?" He finally asked the blond after a moment of tense silence. Staring into his eyes and not touching the cup of chocolate. He was not going to give up.

The blond stopped drinking and clicked his tongue slightly as if he were upset with the unwanted question. Watching Law tense, holding himself back, not relaxing, not lowering his guard.

"Enjoy this a little Law," he murmured, opening his arms and embracing the huge room full of plants and animals. "We'll talk about the important issues later, when we've relaxed a bit and finished eating" _when you've surrendered and begged me to stay here_ , understood the dark.

Law glared at him then and leaned back in his seat, moving slightly away from the chocolate cup. Making it clear that he was not going to enjoy more and that he wanted to talk _now_. The violet eyes fighted against the irritated grey. They stared at each other for a moment, challenging and struggling to see who held the other's eyes for longer. Both annoyed and tense by the innocent and calm situation.

"As you wish." The blond finally said smashing his empty cup with a thud on the table and standing up abruptly.

Law jumped in his chair. It was then that he realized how stiff he was. With who he was playing. How dangerous this game was.

The blond walked around the table with two strides and stopped behind his back out of sight. Law again tried to control his breathing, which was fluttering again free and nervous. His survival instincts screamed at him to escape or run away, that the blond was going to kill him in one way or another. He swallowed and forced himself to sit still and not run away, or turn around to face the man who looked so dangerous. That would be stupid. It would give the blonde an advantage by showing him that his mere presence made his hair stand on end, and besides, it would be a low blow to his pride.

Hands rested on his shoulders, huge and heavy and a warm breathed against his ear. Law closed his eyes and held his breath feeling his heart beating terrified at full speed. He felt totally trapped, tied with invisible chains to his seat and with his life hanging on very thin thread.

"I want …" Doflamingo dark voice hit against his soft and delicate ear "...you to be my personal servant" his voice whispered, sweet but firm, promising him paradise and much more.

And with that simple phrase Law's mind cleared.

"No" Sure, without a doubt.

Hands tightened on his shoulders.

"You'll have whatever you want," the blonde continued as if Law had not spoken "you can read your medical books, I'll let you go wherever you want, you'll have money, wealth, power. Whatever you wish. You will not have to clean the floors of empty rooms, wouldn't have to eat disgusting food. Whatever you want Law think about it" it almost looked like a plea from a small child.

Law smiled ironically. So the man knew about everything, about his passions, about his sorry life, here, about his dreams. Dear God, of course he knew! Surely he would have ordered it himself. Law suddenly felt so stupid, so used...A servant? Really? Did the man really thought Law was such an idiot? Servant was an elegant and politically correct word to name slaves, it was said that it was not the same, that a servant lived better than a slave, but in the end everything was the same. Law would have to serve and satisfy the wishes of the other, and by his creepy stares it was very clear what they were going to be. Did the man really think that he would accept voluntarily?

If there was one thing that Law hated above all things in this world, was when people underestimated and humiliated him. This man had taken away absolutely everything that he loved or had and now he asked him to be his slave voluntarily? Fury was too soft a word to describe what Law felt at that moment

"No," he replied. Absolute. Without a room for questions.

The long fingers dug into his shoulders even more, and when the god spoke he did so with a slight angry tone in his voice, as if he really couldn't understand his refusal.

"Why? I'm giving you everything!"

A laugh escaped from Law's lips, dry and sarcastic. He turned his head slightly until he found the other's purple eyes colliding with his own again. Confused, curious and quite offended. Nice.

"Because I hate you" Law hissed, feeling excited when the other's eyes darkened "Because I would never serve a man who takes everything away from me and then decides to give it back to me as if in mercy" he saw his face reflected in the other's purple eyes, his eyes serious and a false pleasant smile in his mouth. The perfect mask

Doflamingo moved away from him quickly and began to walk through the courtyard behind him with long strides, with violence contained in every muscle. Moving away from him so as not to explode with rage and do something he would regret. Law took in his hands the chocolate cup now tempered to room temperature, and drank it all in one gulp while listening to the god speak on the other side of the pavilion. Curiously he felt calm and more relaxed than ever, as if he had taken a weight off his shoulders, as if ridiculing the other, giving him his own medicine relieved his pride and returned him to his usual self.

"Vergo, return Law to his rooms," ordered the blonde. "I think he's not feeling very well." the god finally ordered.

Law chuckled amused. Ah, such hypocrisy, although after hearing the politicians form the city this almost feel like a child's game. The brunette got up and went to where the other two stood, determined to cooperate to get out of these rooms as soon as possible.

Doflamingo turned to look at him one last time and Law could feel the weight of his gaze on him again. Fulminating him intensely at his irreverence and making his breath caught again. Suddenly Law was soaked with cold sweat again. Suddenly he felt as a fly before a colossus. The god kept pushing, trying to bend him, trying to...

Law dedicated him his best fake and irreverent smile.

However, before Doflamingo could do anything to him, Vergo pushed him towards the exit with more force than necessary. Law stumbled out of the place easily, wanting to get out and get back into his pathetic life scrubbing floors.

"Let's see how much you last, Trafalgar Law" the god whispered one last time, with an strange anticipation in his voice.

...oOo…

After that meeting, a kind of routine was established. Every afternoon the God would call him to his extravagant rooms where he would show Law everything he could get and would tempt him to surrender and accept him. Every afternoon Law answered the same thing when Doflamingo asked him the same question. " _Would you be my servant?" "No"_

They had been going like this for two weeks now.

Law wasn't an idiot and he knew that the God would not continue going on like this for the rest of his life. He knew that at some point the man would get tired and would stop asking, that day he would take what the man believed was rightfully his. Law also knew that, despite his best efforts, he was also beginning to surrender to the inevitable.

After the contempt and hatred in the temple, after horrible meals, whispers and impossible jobs, Law came to the perfect world where the blond lived. The promises he made sounded tempting with a tired mind, Law sometimes wondered at how easy it would be to let go, to get rid of the suffering and contempt and enjoy the luxury. He had even discovered himself anticipating the blond's calling him to that paradise, one day while peeling potatoes.

This was getting dangerous.

He had realized that the visits, the moment of pace and luxury, was the only thing that kept him sane in that hell he lived every day. That the interesting and intelligent conversations and arguments he had with the blond, or the slight break from the visceral hatred he got from his companions, were received as holy water on his part.

Law hated it. He hated himself for even enjoying it one moment. He hated that the person who had destroyed his life was the one who made him wake up every morning.

Law sighed at those revelations that have been going through his mind all day. Tired, he observed the pool of black, calm water in front of him with the reflection of the moon dancing on the surface. Law dropped the tunic that he had been wearing since he had entered the place and moved towards the water with a determined step. His skin prickled imperceptibly in contact with the increasingly cold autumn air, but he ignored it and simply dropped into the water.

Law adored this. It was another of the few things that kept him sane now a days. Swimming in the small pool reminded him of summers at sea with Luffy and Ace, laughing and splashing each other. It was the same warm and pleasant feeling as when riding Pinguin. Of fighting against his grandfather.

Absolute freedom.

He could imagine himself in the midst of the ocean surrounded by water, without walls that would hold him back or cage him. Simply him and the wide sea. But as always his lungs hurt and woke him up from the fantasy. Slowly he rose to the surface and breathed again. The moon bathed his skin, turning it a pale color like that of a certain redhead.

He hit himself mentally.

Forcing himself not to think about it, he plunged back into the water and took two strokes before colliding instantly with the stone edge. The pool was too small, in Doflamingo's surely he could...

Law hit himself mentally. _Again_. What the hell happened to him today? Why couldn't he control his mind as he always did? returning to the surface he stood with the water tickling his waist. He observed himself for a moment in the reflection of the black and undulating surface.

It was the first time in a long time that he saw his reflection again.

He had lost weight. A lot. He almost couldn't recognize himself with his ribs clearly marked on his skin. Hee had also gained a bit of muscle with the strenuous jobs and had lost his boyish appearance to a more serious and mature one, especially in his now cold and calculating eyes.

Well, at least the torture had had something positive, had never had as much strength as now, or so much control over their own person and his environment, he was always alert, calculating each movement and prepared for whatever it was. That must be good, wouldn't it?

He looked at his reflection again.

He had never liked his body. It was too tall. Too skinny. His bones were marked too much against his skin, he even had a bruise on his belly from a hit of a superior. He looked weak and delicate, like woman who would broken if she was treated abruptly, not the scary intelligent man he wanted to become.

And then there were the tattoos. Those drawings of crossed lines that he did not understand and that he had had since he was little. Usually he pretended that he didn't care about those, that he didn't mind wearing them painted over his dark skin like a luminous spotlight announcing everyone that he was not Greek by birth.

He sighed again forcing the water to undulate and stop reflecting his figure, then, raising a hand, he brushed away the wet hair out of his eyes. It was getting long, maybe he should find a knife to cut it.

He suddenly felt it then. Another slight ripple in the water apart from his. A slight shudder of alertness in his mind. The absolute silence and stillness in the pool.

Two arm rounded his naked waist from behind.

He tensed and put on the imperturbable mask instantly, convincing himself that -even though he was in the water totally naked and with his back to the other- he could still defend himself.

A breath hit the back of his neck and the hands pressed him gently back until his back met a strong huge chest. He forced himself to stay calm as usual and pretend that it did not affect him or disturb him in the least as his heart fluttered nervously in his chest. Fuck. Fuck. He had been to fucking predictable.

"Hi, Law," the god whispered almost inaudibly against his ear, resting his chin on his shoulder with a predatory smile playing across his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know half of you wanna murder me right now, but don't blame me, blame my past me, she wrote this muahaha. Anyway, thanks a lot for the reviews, it love to write like this. I know we are leaving half the characters behind (Kidd, Marco, Ace...) but they would come back...eventually X'D
> 
> Love you guys, as always you can find me on Tumblr or in the KidLaw chat in skype if you wanna talk about the new ONE PIECE ARC THAT IS GOING TO BEGIN WITH KID AND LAW AND PAPA-KAIDO!!!!!!!
> 
> P.D: find me as live:cucuxumusu94 in skype and I would add you to the chat if you are not there yet.


	12. Truth

Law stirred slightly in the other's arms trying to hide from his inquisitive violet look, however, in that situation, he could do little. He was totally naked in the middle of a pool with the richest man in the world hugging him from behind. That was weird in itself, pretty weird. His mind went into a state of alertness and he tensed watching for a way to escape.

"Goodnight, Sir" he replied to the other's greeting as if nothing was happening, but sensing the discomfort his own voice. Shit.

Law felt almost t the predatory smile of the blond grew on his face, knowing perfectly well what he was doing. Law decided not to do anything at the moment. He just stood still and silent, as if waiting for the perfect moment to turn and break the god's face. He also denied the older man the joy of knowing that, besides the alert, the man had awakened his curiosity, and was dying to ask what he was doing there.

He congratulated himself when he felt, rather than saw, the other's smile fade behind his back.

"Do you bathe here every day?" The blond asked then.

Law didn't respond. It was a rhetorical question, Doflamingo already knew the answer, as always, and Law knew that he knew it. The god's hands moved against his sides and pressed the wet skin of his torso, as if he was holding back and just running his palms down Law's firm stomach.

"I didn't knew that the pool here was so small," commented the blonde casually, to which Law was tempted to roll his eyes tired. Of course he knew it, when would he stop pretending? "Compared to mine it looks...cozy?"

Compared to his pool the ocean seemed ridiculous, Law thought, remembering the huge pond with golden floors and wild plants and exotic birds surrounding it. Surely in winter, it would also have hot water, Law could surely get tired swimming there from one corner to the other, with the birds singing and the delicious cup of chocolate waiting for him when he came out ...

"Why don't you use it, Law?" again the silent whispered against his ear, like the sirens tempting the sailors "I can let you use it whenever you want, I don't care, you just have to ask me" the tone lowered two octaves in the last sentence and Law felt the soft flutter of lips against the sensitive skin of his ear.

He turned his head away from the contact and frowned.

"Thank you but no," he answered instantly in a firm voice "I do not want nor need anything from you, I am perfectly satisfied with this pool"

The hands on his waist tightened on his skin for an imperceptible moment, but Law felt it perfectly. _The contained violence and the increasingly little patience that the other had_. Law was playing with fire, and although it was fun to humiliate him and reject him, he knew that he could end up burning.

"Mmm" answered the god moving again behind him.

This time his lips settled on Law's neck where his pulse beat. Not a caress or an insinuation, but a real full contact, pressing hard against his dark skin. Without violence, without pressing him, without even moving, but making it clear that it hadn't been an accident.

Law suppressed a chill and tried to hide the trembling of his hands. He prayed that his accelerated pulse would not show against the other's mouth. But the blond did nothing else, just stayed like this, hugging him from behind and preventing him from escaping, but without actually forcing him in the least, just touching, pressing a bit, insinuating things. A slight warning and mild punishment for Law's angry comment.

"What do you want?" Law finally asked not standing the silence.

"The same as always," the blond answered tiredly to his question, as if he was falling asleep right there with him in his arms and in the middle of the pool.

Yes, this man was definitely weird.

As Doflamingo moved his mouth against Law's skin whispering the words without separating in the least, another shudder made the muscles of Law's stomach tremble against the hands of God.

Fuck. He had to contain his body. Even if he had to paralyze his own muscles, Law swore he was going to do it. He was not afraid of this man, he did not shake pathetically in fear, it was the other way around, it was the people who trembled when seeing him, and that was why he had to put an end to this now that he could.

"I've already given you the answer a while ago," Law reminded him, trying to get the other into a conversation and distract him from his sensitive neck.

"I know," the purple-eyed man said moving his lips upwards, tracing a line to his earlobe and stopping there expectantly, "but it was not the answer I wanted to hear."

This time Law closed his eyes and his head moved desperate to escape from those lips. This was dangerous, very very dangerous. He shifted in the other's arms trying to get away but the god only squeeze him more against his chest. Oh no! The lips returned to his skin, this time resting on the beating pulse again, as if the man loved to feel his heartbeat going crazy.

"Why are you so interested in me?" He asked again.

' _I had to distract him, I needed to distract him to find a way to escape'_ The other's breath hit again his wet sensitive skin with a chuckle, the sound reverberating in the strong chest behind him. Powerful, strong and wild. The laugh of a god amused to see how his subjects killed each other while he watched.

"You're so innocent," he began, "you don't even know who you are do you" A hand came up to his jaw from his waist and turned Law's face exposing his neck even more to his mouth.

His heartbeat keep beating a quick rhythm. A sample of how terrified he was and how the other was affecting him even though he showed no emotion on his face. The warm lips caressed his pulse again, as if feeling the rapid beat reaffirmed the man's suspicions and gave him security on what he was doing. It terrified Law. He hated feeling so exposed and betrayed by his body without being able to do anything to avoid it. He had to get out of here, he repeated. He had to run away before it got worse.

"... but apart from that" continued Doflamingo outside of his internal debate "you could also say that you impressed me in the tests ... You were the best of them all, I had never seen anyone like you, so sure, so smart and arrogant, holding my gaze defiantly. It made me want to get to know you"

Law tensed, forgetting his fear and his disadvantaged position. Finally he had the answer to his question. So it had been because of that. He had ruined his life for fun. On a whim.

He clenched his fists feeling his blood boil.

"Well then do not get upset when I took revenge on you for having ruined my life" he hissed in a tense voice.

The blond laughed again, and the powerful sound reverberated again against the empty white columns getting lost in the night. Law wanted to cut him alive, and then take the pieces, crush them, boil them and give them to the pigs to eat.

"Did I make you angry, Law?" Asked the blond with a tone of mockery in his voice, and Law knew then that he had done it, he had showed emotion, lowered his guard. He hate himself for having fallen into such an obvious trap "I'm sorry, that was not my intention, forgive me"

Law went to protest, to scream at him, to kick and bite him like a caged and rabid beast if it was necessary...but the god finally opened his mouth and made a licked at his skin, from the middle of his neck to the sensitive skin behind his ear. Hot, rough and dominant. As an animal marking its next prey, claiming him as his own to do what he wanted.

Law opened his eyes wide. The rage and anger disappearing suddenly to be replaced by something much much worse. Panic. Terror in its purest state. The man was going to rape him right there, he thought creating the worst possible scenario in his mind.

He was going to betray Kidd.

Resorting to his most basic instincts, Law began to trash frantically among the steel bars that where the other's arms, among the water. He wanted to scream, scream and ask for help, but his mouth had gone dry as he knew that no one would come. If they did it would be to make fun of him, enjoy the show or kindly help the blond in his task.

"Law, relax" ordered the other trying to stop his movements.

"No, no, let me go!" he finally managed to say in a choked voice.

Doflamingo frowned behind him but Law couldn't see him. What he did feel was that, suddenly, his body stopped responding and he stayed still, as if suspended in the dark night air. Panic was a word too weak to describe what he was feeling in that moments. The mere idea of betraying the redhead, of surrendering to another one by force, made him want to scream until he was hoarse.

He gasped with accelerated breathing and the sound sounded more like crying than someone looking for air to fill his lungs.

"Law you don't have to be afraid of me" a kiss fell affectionately on his temple "I'm not going to do anything you are not going to like"

The brunette trembled in terror at those words. So he was going to do it. No. Kidd. He loved Kidd, he could not betray him. He closed his eyes tightly pulling at his muscles forcing them to move. The blonde's hands released his waist but he still couldn't move. What was wrong? Why couldn't he control his body?

The hot and huge palms of the other pressed against his accelerated stomach touching him delicately and running with quick fingers. He closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. He was not going to cry, he refused to cry in front of the other. Never. The hands went up his body caressing his ribs with his thumbs and up to his pectorals. The blonde's mouth was still on his neck lips and tongue tasting in gentle and soothing movements.

"Relax Law, you'll like it, I promise"

Law opened his eyes and watched the dark water of the pool with increasingly glassy eyes. Shit. Shit. The other's fingers closed around his nipples and squeezed them tightly. His column arched against the other's chest in a physiological response that he hated from the start.

"That's right, Law," whispered the one who could still move, nipping at his jaw. "And now let me hear you."

Law felt a chill of repulsion go through him, but the blonde associated it with one of pleasure and kept pinching those little buttons between his hands playing with them at pleasure. He pulled them, twisted them, and released them for a moment in the cold air to catch them instantly repeating the process.

"Nng," whined Law suffering, hating it all. But again the blonde associated the sound with Law finally surrendering to his caress.

"Good boy" he encouraged him kissing him in the hair like a pet "I love it when you obey me so beautifully"

Law wanted to hit him. He wanted to scream at him. Call Kidd and take refuge in his arms and not let go of him again. But he was still immobilized, unable to do anything but endure the assault of the other. The older man's hands continued to run over his body, descending more and more in a known direction.

Law gasped in terror. No. He had to stop it. He couldn't. Kidd!

The elder man delineated the bones of his hips with his fingers and slowly approached the area sinking into the water.

"No!" He finally managed to scream.

And the blond stopped looking at the boy in his arms stunned by the scream.

"No," Law whispered again. And then he could not take it anymore and his voice broke pathetically "I don't ... please" too weak, too helpless, he hated to be showing this facet. He hated to show it to him.

 

 

 

 

The god watched the boy trembling in his arms without understanding it. Hadn't he been moaning a moment ago? Why was he pleading and trembling now? He thought Law had been liking this, he didn't think it would cause him so much ...

He realized the error.

A strange feeling he had not feel before spread across his chest. He didn't wanted to force the boy, he was not one of those people who got excited by torturing others ... well, maybe a little, but not during sex. He wanted ... What the hell did he want? What the hell was he pretending to do? This was not part of the initial plan. He clicked his tongue in anger at his slip. Now it would be more difficult for the boy to trust him.

 

 

 

Law slowly felt the control come back to his body. The god released him. Without thinking twice he began to run away from the other splashing in the dark water. He still felt the other's gaze watching his back, scaring him like a reminder, like a monster playing with a pray, letting him run before following him. He left the swimming pool, grabbed his clothes and ran to his room without even bothering to put it on.

Before disappearing he turned his face and watched God standing in the middle of the pool, glaring at the water. His gaze was capable in those moments to summon Hades himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't put any warnings in the chapter because nothing happened, but if anyone felt trigered, tell me and I will add it if needed in the next chapters. Besides from this, next chapter we would leave the temple and focus on the rest of the crew, we will see how Kidd is doing.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it.


	13. Consequences

Law turned back on the bed sinking his face into the pillow full of strange lumps. The rough material was rough against his face and would normally prevent him from making any gesture that would mean his skin coming in contact with the fabric for longer than necessary, but at that moment he did not care. He had locked himself in his room all day without getting out of bed and not wanting to.

He was afraid to get out of the room. He was afraid to meet the god and his disquieting gaze, and he was also afraid to meet the usual idiots who would laugh at him without knowing the anxiety he was going through.

 _He couldn't get out_. He still needed to calm down and assimilate what had just happened. He knew that if he left the room now, he would surely crumble in front of everyone at the slightest comment against him. And did not want that. He did not want to be seen helpless, weak and scared. Never. They would take advantage of him and if, until now, his life had been hell, if he let them see the slightest doubt on his face, he was sure that he would end up committing suicide.

But he couldn't keep going on like this anymore. His whole life was shit. He had nothing worth pursuing. He had no family, they had tried to rape him, he had lost his friends, his books ... and he did not have Kidd.

The overwhelming sensation of lost returned and this time he did not try to stop it. He simply let out the moan of sadness escape his lips and buried his face in the pillow. Kidd. For the first time since he had arrived and had been locked away from the world, Law allowed himself to think about him.

He needed the redhead, he needed him like a fish needs to swim or like a plant needs light. Because he just couldn't handle life without him. He needed his arms wrapped protectively around him like last time, he needed to hear him reassure him that everything would be fine, that he was strong and could do with whatever he wanted. He needed his kisses, his hands ruffling his hair, his calm caresses on his face...But Law was chained. Caged. Unable to flee, unable to escape, buried in something worse than hell.

_He would not see Kidd again. Never. He had lost him forever._

The idea slammed firmly in his mind for the first time since he had left him. Clear and painful. He had not wanted to think about it, he had been running away from it, but it was just impossible to run away for any longer. He had to accept the consequences of what he had done.

He whimpered against the mattress and the sound filled the lonely room with a sad tone.

It hurt. As if an arm had been ripped out. As if a fundamental part of his life had been taken away. He whimpered louder against the rough material of his bed. He hated the feeling. He hated that suffocation, choking in his throat without letting him breathe, and he hated the black tunnel that his days had become, without the slightest light at the end to guide him.

His mind kept repeating the chant as if it was torturing him. No family, no friends, no future, no Kidd, no hope, no family, no friends, no future, no Kidd … Law wondered if he should finish this all by himself. He could not do it anymore. It was not worthy to continue breathing to continue suffering like this. He could be better dead. If he died now, he wouldn't hear the laughter of the other apprentices, he won't be raped by the god, and he would erase the painful memory of Kidd.

But his body didn't move. His body was too tired and stiff. Why get up after all? Why cut his wrists with something? That required too much effort for the little reward it would have. That would amuse the others even more. Besides, nothing mattered anymore.

The world began to lose clarity for Law's mind. Everything was twisted, everything was cruel, everyone hated him. Why has he born for? Why did he have to suffer so much? Why human beings insisted on destroying everything?

Slowly he fell asleep, his mind exhausted and lost in that spiral of self-destruction. With tears blurring his eyes, but without enough motivation to spill them. With his pride weakening every day, slowly, making him crumble, making him fall.

...oOo…

The next thing Law felt was a gentle caress on his hair that gently woke him up. Just long fingers entangled in his hair in a soft and loving way, causing him to instantly forget his dreams and the bitter and painfull sensation of an old nightmare.

He blinked in the darkness of the night without moving. He was still lying on his stomach on his wooden bed with an almost nonexistent mattress full of lumps. The moonlight came in through his open window and drew a perfect square on the opposite wall. Just above the small trunk where he kept all his belongings, and the only furniture in the room besides the bed.

The hand sank back into his hair, stroking the back of his neck with care. He sighed into the contact, relaxing almost instantly and beginning to fall asleep again. The caress reminded him of Kidd in a strange and pleasant way. Loving. Warm. Caring.

The cool breeze came in through the window and swept into the room as Law refused to move yet. He was still tired, his muscles aching and stiff with all the tension they had had to endure this last days. The hand lowered down his neck firmly massaging the muscles repeatedly, as if trying to relax him more. Law sighed with pure pleasure as he felt the tension evaporate.

"Law, I'm sorry"

Instantly, just with that, he was fully awake and on alert.

Doflamingo was lying next to him on the bed.

Law stood absolutely still. Waiting for any movement of the god that would allow him to run. The door was closed and it would take him a while to unlock it, but the window was still open, if he calculated the fall, despite being on a second floor, he could surely...

His reaction must have been very evident because the older man sighed with a hurt tone. His hand stopped moving over his neck as if the man now regretted touching him. But still he didn't pulled back. He just rested it there. Possessive. As a warning.

"Law, I'm sorry" he repeated "I didn't want to do anything you didn't like, just... I …"

Law opened his eyes frowning. The blonde was apologizing for what he had almost done to him? Hadn't he understand that Law didn't want to see him? Law believed he had been pretty clear when Vergo had come looking for him hours ago. To be true, he had been surprised that Vergo hadn't knocked him out of the room for being disrespectful and had dragged him to the blond's room. CLearly the god was here because of Law's refusal.

"A god does not apologize, he always gets everything he wants, remember?" Law reminded him. Without tone, without emotions. Without giving any hint of his state of mind, still trying to fight against this man.

He felt the hand on his neck move slightly, as if tensing.

"Law" his tone on the other hand sounded slightly angry, hurt "I would never hurt-"

"Don't" Law cut him quickly. He didn't want to hear more lies "Just forget about it"

Both were silent for a moment. Law, still lying on the bed without moving and the other at his side, staring at him with his hand on the back of his neck with no intention of pushing it away. In the end the blond sighed.

"Let me give you a massage"

Law tensed even more, opening his eyes completely scared. A massage required the hands of the other on his body. Again.

"What?" He asked, his voice as tense as his muscles. Had not the other asked for forgiveness? Hadn't he said he would not hurt him? Maybe he should have tried to kill himself when he had the chance.

"You are very tense" the other continued as if this was something normal and Law shouldn't need to worry "and I would like to compensate you in some way after ... what happened" he proposed innocently.

Law thought about it for a split second. And the verdict was _no_. _Definitely no._ He didn't trust him, he didn't need it and didn't want the other's hands near his body anymore. He still felt his skin burn under the one hand that rested on the back of his neck, as if it were an acid on his neck.

"I'm not going to do anything to you, Law, I promise," the blonde whispered in his ear, leaning over his body. Shit, he had been so terrified he had not noticed him move "I just want you to relax and enjoy yourself. Think of it as an apology"

Law buried his face back in the pillow trying to get away from the other and just disappear. He did not want to talk to him, he did not want a massage, he did not want to think, he just wanted to be alone immersed in his misery and die right there.

The huge hands of the god rested on his shoulders not caring about his acceptance. They squeezed him. Not hurting but firmly, pressing his muscles with knowing fingers and moving them in slow circles. Then he repeated the movement again and again and again, until Law felt his muscles surrender totally at the mercy of the other.

He pressed the pillow between his fingers while holding the breath in his lungs. Ok, that felt good.

"Have you ever been massaged, Law?" Asked the other behind him.

Law shook his head without separating in the least from the pillow as he felt the other's hands lower and sink his fingers into the tender flesh of his back over the thin shirt. Exercising the just and necessary pressure, and making his joints creak so pleasantly that he found himself holding small sighs of pleasure.

"You are so tense that I'm surprised that you can even move" the blond commented "As a medical student you should know that it is not good to accumulate tension, it can cause problems long term" the man keep trying to make him talk or just answer something.

Law frowned. 'As a medicine student' that one phrase brought him back to life. The sadness, self-pity and pain evaporated from his mind and were replaced by a cold and bitter rage. It was true, the fault wasn't his, but from this man: The god who was now liquefying his muscles as if nothing.

Law tried to lift on his elbows and turn around in bed, he tried to face the other and make it completely clear that he wanted him out of his room and his life at this precise moment. But the god plunged his fingers back into the base of his back causing something to creak and return to where it should have been. Oh fuck this time Law had to contain something bigger than a sigh.

"Relax Law," whispered the other sweetly above him.

Motherfucker.

But the fingers cracked something in his spine again, and then another muscle returned to its position, and then another and in the end Law found himself lying against the bed totally relaxed and pliant.

Shit. But it felt so good. He rubbed his face against the rough fabric of the pillow feeling suddenly tired and sleepy. The massage had gone from the hard pressure from the beginning to just a light caress over his skin. He didn't know when the other had slipped his hands _under_ the shirt he was wearing, but it didn't worry him anymore, those hands felt big and hot against his thin body. Protective. Caring. His mind wandered again, plunging this time into a calm and peaceful dream that gently called him away from that horrible world.

He didn't resist much.

"Good boy Law" felt the hands withdraw from his back leaving him wanting more "Sleep well, little one, everything is fine" the hands petted his hair as in the beginning and lips slid over his nape to leave a delicate and fleeting kiss.

Law fell asleep.

..oOo…

Marco jumped on the seat when someone dropped a glass against the bar table he was sitting in. He turned pissed off to scream a fre things to the idiot who dared interrupt him while talking to Ace, but when he recognized the face of the redhead he had once called brother, he simply gasped like a fish without knowing whether to scream or be happy to see him there again.

"Hello Kidd," Ace murmured at the end, with a tired smile.

The other simply grunted in response and drank the glass on his hands in one swallow. Marco for a moment wanted to break his face, how dare he answer Ace like that?

They were in their usual tavern: The Blink's Sake. It was a secluded place on the outskirts of the city that few people knew about. It was dark, filthy and filled with people who seemed to be capable of robbing if you lowered your guard for a second. But they adored it. They knew the innkeeper, a bony man who always hummed the same song and who tried unsuccessfully to court the young women who entered the place every so often. The man had saved Kidd and Marco lives many times when they had gotten themselves in trouble.

He had brought Ace here on the first week of training trying to encourage him from the loss of his brother, and at the end it had become a kind of routine. Every day after training they went to that place to drink, chat or just talk, while they listened to the man humming and nice wine was served.

"Brook, give me another" Marco asked, calling the man on the other side of the bar.

If Kidd had come he was going to need as much alcohol on his sistem as possible to handle him. Especially with Ace next to him. This could quickly turn into a battlefield. Marco liked the boy, but darm, Ace could win a bar fight against anyone. It was hot. But terrifying.

"Marco," Kidd called suddenly in a serious voice.

The blonde looked at him out of the corner of his eye. Kidd had changed too much lately. He had turned more serious, more strict and dark, the arrogant smile of before had completely disappeared being replaced by that bitter grimace. It was as if he had withdrawn into himself, as if the sudden betrayal had made him stop trusting people.

Marco didn't know what to do to recover his old friend.

"What?" He said as Brook left another cup of spiced wine in front of him.

Ace looked at Kidd curiously over his mug with amusement in his eyes at Marco's tone of resignation. Lately they had spent a lot of time together and Ace had began to learn Marco's moods. Marco had to restrain himself from returning the smile like an idiot and concentrate on the jug.

"I'm going to enter the temple and get Law out," said Kidd seriously.

Marco opened his eyes surprised stopping the glass halfway to his mouth, while Ace at his side choked on his drink and began to cough. Marco quickly left his glass on the table and tapped the Ace's on the back.

"What?!" Ace asked in a hoarse, choked voice, looking at Kidd in sock.

"I've found a way to sneak in," he announced softly as if they were having an ordinary conversation, instead of planning to break into one of the most dangerous places in the world.

Ace just stared at him speechless. Marco ran a hand over his face, closing his eyes knowing what would come next. When Kidd fell in love, nothing good ever happened. Never. He was definitely going to need a lot of wine not to break his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, the drama and plot begging. The worst part is drawing near muahaha. Hope you liked the chapter, cos is Eurovision time, and I have things to watch!


	14. Discoveries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING FOR PSYCOLOGICAL ABUSE, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ, THIS, AND THE NEXT CHAPTER.

Law walked down the long corridor to his room. It was a dark night and he was returning from the rooms of the god who, as always, had called him three hours ago for their regular visit. Curiously, the routine had returned after the incident. Doflamingo had called him again and they had gone back to the golden room to chat, eat and for the blonde to ask him the question. Law refused,  _ as always _ , Doflamingo insisted, Law refused again, and then they said goodbye to repeat the same thing the next day. Still, something had changed. He didn’t know what, but the way the blonde treated him had become more loving and kind, like that of a father or brother caring about his family and wanting to protect it.

Although the god also kept trying to move forward with him. Law had noticed how the other looked at him sometimes, with a desire and a strange intensity in his violet eyes that Law knew too well. He had also noticed that the blond took advantage of every opportunity he had to touch him, or please him. It wasn’t like before when he was trying to impress or bribe him into accepting to serve him, this time he really seemed to want to show him this or that thing, and enjoy the miracles of the palace together. The man smiled happy at every positive comment Law made.

Law didn’t understand it and he didn’t like it either.

The god was someone he hated for several reasons. He had made it clear from the start. He was not going to give up, he was not going to let himself be manipulated because of his kindness and wealth. Doflamingo was the enemy. The blond should know it. But the sudden turn of events made him doubt that the man really saw it that way.

He should remind him of that again, because, even if he had had a little moment of weakness and the blonde had helped him, that didn’t change anything. Even if the other had seen him helpless and vulnerable, he would continue to fight with the same or even more strength than before.

He finally turned at the end of the corridor to face a small gallery that opened in one side to a little garden, the other one being one of the outer walls the protected the temple. Law sighed again. If only he could jump it. Unfortunately they were too tall and polished to climb, and there was not even a miserable tree in the area that would help it rise and fall to the other side.His footsteps echoed on the floor as he continued to walk.

Then he heard it.

A whisper of leaves and branches to his right where one of those squalid bushes was. He stopped short. Alert. What would make someone hide in the bushes? Had they stolen something? Killed someone? Wanted to play a joke on him? Law frowned tired with all his stupid paranoia. They were in one of the forbidden parts of the temple and if they hid, it was because they shouldn’t be there. 

"Whoever you are, get out of there before I call someone," he said firmly, but low enough so that whoever was on night patrol would not hear them.

"Law?" The bushes moved slightly and an imposing figure rose from them. Red hair. Red eyes. Too many muscles.

Law gasped. Law stared at the man unbelieving what he saw. He rubbed his eyes growling angry at himself. Great, now he had hallucinations. But when he opened them again,  _ Eustass Kidd _ was still standing in front of him. Law blinked confused again. It didn’t make sense! This couldn’t be Kidd! It was another damn joke!

“Law” the redhead suddenly said, advancing almost running towards Law who was still standing in the middle of the gallery like an idiot.

Kidd wrapped him in his strong arms. And then, with that simple gesture, Law knew it was him.

He hugged him as Kidd had always done, comforting him with love, holding him in his arms as if Law was the most delicate thing in the world and he didn’t want to break him. Law felt him surround him completely, his smell, his strength, his warmth. Kidd in its pure state. He returned the hug instantly burying his face in his chest and inhaling his dark scent. Needing him. Finally being able to function again since he was here.

"I have missed you so much," Kidd whispered, spreading kisses through his hair as if desperate to touch him, caressing his hair with his huge hands as in madness. In a caress so familiar that Law pressed even more tightly against him not wanting to separate again.

He thought he had lost Kidd, that he would never see him again, that nothing was worth it anymore. He had made up his mind at last, and then, as always, Kidd broke his expectations and entered the temple simply to see him. The mere fact of feeling him again, hugging him in that protective way, brought him back to life. It made him want to fight again, not give up to scream at the god. It was simply amazing.

But all that happiness did not take away the fact that Kidd  _ shouldn’t be there _ . To enter the temple without permission was treason, and could be penalized with something worse than exile. Law could not allow it. He needed Kidd alive or he was sure that he would succumb to darkness. Again. And this time, Law wasn’t sure if he would be able to survive it.

"What are you doing here, Kidd?" He finally asked, not wanting to let go of the other one for a moment, muffling his words against the other’s chest.

"I came to get you out of this cage," the redhead announced, with that tone that meant he wasn’t going to be stopped no matter what. Law melted in his arms when he heard it.

"You can’t," said Law, trying to make him see reason “They would also persecute you”

That's why he had entered this temple. That's why he had not fled away. To protect him. Law couldn’t forget his reasons, and go with him because he was scared and slowly dying in this temple. He won’t be so egoist. Not after all that had happened to keep Kidd safe.

“That's why you left the last time?”

This time Law opened his eyes surprised. How could Kidd understand him so well? Why did he know exactly what he was going to do? Couldn’t he have secrets? He pressed closer to the older man knowing he was going to be angry. He was a bloody soldier. Everything that doubted his strength, ability and courage, was practically like slapping him in the face.

“Law” said Kidd with a tired voice “I know what you think that I can do absolutely nothing in this situation and that the best thing to do is keep a low profile and forget the problem”

Law nodded against the older man's chest, agreeable. After all it was the truth, they could not fight with a god, and less with one who drank a drink that had not even been discovered, in a bathtub of pure gold. 

Kidd then separated from him undoing the hug. His big hands were rugged after sword training, they were soldier hands, Law had been so afraid of remembering them, now they cradled his cheeks delicately. Their faces mere millimeter away their eyes meeting for the first time.

Kidd. The redhead was so perfect that it was painful to look at him.

“Law, trust me for the first time in your life” he said slowly “Everything is ready. I have two saddled horses outside and the luggage that we are going to need on the journey. When you get out of here all we have to do is ride to Rome, we'll take a boat if necessary. Killer, my friend waits for us there and will welcome us happily”

Law kept looking at him. Kidd looked desperate. His face had changed, he had subtle, his hair was a mess and even his clothes were dirty. Law knew that if he said no now, he would break the other heart into pieces, he knew that  _ this _ could be the end of the relationship. And what Kidd was saying made so much sense,, it looked so easy and simple. He closed his eyes taking a breath.

“It took you long enough, idiot”

Kidd smiled and kissed him for the first time in too many months. Law answered him instantly, just as demanding and greedy by the lips of other. He knew that what they were going to do was dangerous, that they could die, be caught, but Law didn’t care anymore. The decision to enter the temple had been the worst he had ever made in his life. It didn’t matter if they were caught and killed. The mere fact separating from the redhead again would be like death in life, staying in the temple a second more would break his mind. 

"I have missed you too" he sighed with no air once they parted from the starving kiss.

Kidd looked at him surprised and again kissed him even more anxious, passing his arms around his waist and squeezing their bodies so tightly that Law realized he was starting to get excited despite the dangerousness of the situation. He caressed Kidd in turn, delineating the muscles of his shoulders and chest above the short shirt he wore, sinking his fingers into his burning hair and remembering every little detail he could, every detail that he had forced himself to memorize when he had gone.

"I'm not going to let you separate from me for a second from now," Kidd whispered, handing kisses down his face as if trying to comfort him. "Listen to me and I promise we'll be miles from here in a matter of hours."

Then without giving him a second to change his mind, he pulled him in the direction of the wall. Law smiled and let himself be dragged a bit excited. He won’t have to endure more abuse, he won’t have to eat disgusting things or control every step he took for fear of the God. He would be free again, he would be able to do whatever he wanted. He could study medicine again, he could kiss and touch Kidd whenever he wanted! 

His thoughts were interrupted by three dry and sarcastic claps rumbling in the silence of the night.

“Look what we have here” that voice, with that arrogant cadence said “I was going to your room to lend you a new book that has arrived, and I find you trying to escape with  _ another _ ”

The tone seemed happy at first sight, amused, but Law didn’t miss the rage underneath. An vast, huge and dangerous anger, Law realized as he turned around to seeing the man's face. That tight smile, those sparkling eyes that Law had never seen him...

“What does this mean, Law? Are you abandoning me?” his tone stopped being fun and pleasant, and the anger, the betrayal, the rage, was reflected to perfection.

Law trembled.

Kidd quickly stepped between them. Looking at Doflamingo challenging, as if daring the god to try and stop them. Protecting Law from the angry stare of the god.  Law panicked. This wasn’t god. Not at all. The god regarded Kidd with hateful, like a monster ready to punce.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" The god asked him without a trace of respect or patience.

“Not your business”

Suddenly, Law felt as if the air had been pulled out of his lungs by an invisible blow to his stomach. His knees trembled, almost making him fall against the marble floor. Law managed to control himself. What the hell was going on? Why did he suddenly feel so much pressure on his shoulders and so short of breath? Law watch the blond glare at them as he approached. Murder was clear in his eyes. 

Law reacts without thinking. He quickly stepped between the others, making Doflamingo focus on him. His drew on a breathe as if he had also been feeling the pressure. Doflamingo frowned and Law suddenly knew what he had to do. He had to save Kidd. He knew that their relationship could not be, he knew that they had screwed up, but no matter what  _ he was going to save the redhead _ .

“Doflamingo, I can explain it, it's not what …”

The god grabbed him firmly by the arm and threw him far away, making him roll on the ground until he hit the temple wall. Law felt, stunned by the blow, a sharp pain raising from his ankle causing him to grit his teeth in pain. He couldn’t have broken it. Not now.

The other two remained still, looking and measuring each other. Kidd now frowning and clenching his hands, as he sent him a worried look from his position. Still all Kidd’s attention seemed to be on the blond man in front of him, his red eyes seeming to be able to kill the god with their intensity.

"I asked you a question," the blonde repeated, almost hissing the words.

"I have no obligation to answer you," Kidd replied quietly. Holding the other's gaze as if nothing, regulating every minimal expression of his body so that he seemed relaxed.   


"Do you know who are you talking to?  _ Mortal _ ?" Doflamingo hissed in warning.

"No, nor do I care" Kidd answered smiling mockingly and crossing his arms as if they were having a chat. His eyes however were still murderous. “I’m here to take Law back with me. He’s mine. I won't let you have him”   


Then, everything happened in an instant.

Doflamingo raised his hand at Kidd's throat in a movement too fast for the eye to see. Then he tightened his grip tightly around Kidd’s throat and lifted him from the floor.Law stood up feeling something creaking in his foot which make him stumble slightly. He didn’t care. He had to separate the two of them.  

“I dare you to repeat that” Doflamingo said, grinning macabrely.

Kidd grabbed the other's hands trying to break the hold, but suddenly realizing then that he could not handle the other. His eyes panicked for a second. Doflamingo was just too strong. Law arrived to where the others were and also grabbed the god's arm trying to lower Kidd to the ground.

"Please, let him go," he shrieked, watching the redhead's jaw clench suddenly short of breath.

“Why should I do that?” Doflamingo laughed still glaring at Kidd turning red “Give me  _ just _ one reason. This idiot enters my temple uninvited, insults me, and then tries to steal from me” the man hissed “Give me one reason not to kill him!”

Kidd coughed. Law lost his mind. He couldn’t lose Kidd. He was the only thing he could not lose. He needed to help him, he had to get him out of there.

“I’ll change for him! I give up” Law yelled, his whole body trembled at what it implied “I'll do what you want, but do not hurt him... please” he whispered painfully.

Doflamingo suddenly turned at him with surprised eyes. Kidd's ones reflected terror, panic.

"No," whispered the redhead in a choked voice, looking at Law horrified “NO”

  
  
  
  


Doflamingo released the redhead man who crumpled in the floor coughing. He ignored him. He instead looked at Law. His ankle broken, his face a mix of pain and defeat. All for this man. 

"I understand," he whispered, lost for the first time in his life.

He understood why Law risked everything for this man. He understood why Law had rejected him when they were at the pool, he understood why he hated him so much that he didn’t even fall for temptation. Why he seemed so desperate to save the other. Why Law had entered the temple in the morning as if he had run away from home. He understood then why the redhead had also entered the temple to rescue the other despite it meaning his death. He saw it in the look of terror in the gray eyes. 

_ They were in love. _

The idea hit him hard. Law didn’t belong to him, he had never belonged to him. From the beginning it he had been for redhead.  _ ‘He is mine’ _ It had pissed him so much.  Why hadn’t he noticed? Why had he taken it for granted that Law was  _ his _ from the moment he stepped on the temple?

A sharp pain oppressed his chest. It hurt, and he couldn’t understand why. Law meant nothing. He had only make him enter the temple for safety, so that he won’t become a problem, he shouldn’t mean anything.

But the pain was still there.

"Get out" he muttered under his breath in the redhead direction as he clenched his fists. His voice was calm, soft, controlled.

"No!" the redhead snarled as he finally got up “I'm not going to leave him here”

This time Doflamingo used his powers with the fury running through his veins. Invisible ropes tightened around the intruder who had entered the temple and lifted him into the air, pulling him as far away from Law as he could. Law scream again scared for the man. Begging him. Giving him what he had wanted from the beginning. Offering himself as if he was a sacrifice in exchange for the other. Giving him what he hadn’t been able to get on his own. He gave it so easily, without hesitation, as if it meant absolutely nothing compared to the life of the idiot. As if Doflamingo hadn’t spend months trying to get it.

He watched the redhead writhe in the air with fury in his eyes. Trying still to get to Law.

"You're banished from Greece" he said "I don’t want to see you here again, if I ever see your face again I'll kill you," he announced as if it was a prophecy.

"Fuck you, no, I refuse, I'm taking Law. No!” he screamed resisting under the invisible threads.

Doflamingo squeezed him with the ropes, taking his breathe away again, forcing him to  _ shut up _ .

“Law”

Law looked at him trembling, panic and despair in his face, without the usual control that he normally had over his expresion. His balance trembled when he leaned on his injured leg, but he keep trying to stand up. He knew that the other's life depended on his actions at that time. He was defeated, stupid,  _ and not his. _

“Undress” he ordered calmly. Angrily. Being surpassed his own limits.

The breath in Law stopped in his chest for a moment and scared I look for Kidd's gaze. The redhead returned an equal of terrified and desperate what I just confirmed his suspicions.

“...What?” his voice trembled, he looked at the verge of tears, from the physical pain or the mental one? Doflamingo didn’t know. He didn’t care.

"Do it!" The blonde hissed again, staring at him.

  
  
  


Law finally understood it.  _ ‘I'll do whatever you want, but do not hurt him’ _ His own words echoed in his mind. This would be the blond's revenge for his betrayal. Law’s punishment. Tears finally fell down his cheeks as he understood. The god was going to fuck him in front of Kidd. He was going to force him to betray the other man in front of him.

All, in exchange of Kidd’s life.

Lowering his head, he raised his hands to the rugged tunic. They trembled too much. Too pathetically, and with the tears in his eyes he couldn’t see anything. He hate this. He hate being so weak that he couldn’t even protect what he wanted. He hated himself because everything had been his fault. Because he had been the one who had decided to enter the temple fleeing from the other,  thinking that everything would be solved with that. 

He pulled at his clothes.

Kidd screamed in despair still suspended in the air.

Law walked towards the god limping. Then he turned his back to him as the man instructed. He faced Kidd in his total nakedness. Then, with the tears wetting his face, he smiled at him reassuringly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why I'm trying to show here is abuse. Abuse is not only hiting someone (which Doffy also did) it's more than that, it's making the victim feel guilty and that it's been his fault. I'm also trying to show Doffy with feeling cos well, monster also have feelings and would make you guys understand him and what's happening better, and make all this more difficult for you. 
> 
> Again I have to WARN for the next chapter. Those who don't like physical or phycological abuse, please don't read. I'm serious. 
> 
> Also, despite the current mood and problems, I will remind you that this story has a happy ending. It will be fine. There is always hope. This part is necessary for the story and I hope it would teach you guys a few good lessons at the end. So keep on. There's light at the end of the tunel.


	15. Desperation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING. DONT READ IF YOU DON'T LIKE PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE.

Ace wrapped his blanket around himself trying to get rid of the cold of the morning, and Marco, seated behind him, squeezed him in his arms, also wary from the cold. They had decided that Ace would sit on top of Marco to try to get warm, and, in the process, make better use of the only blanket they had taken for the job.

Although it still the thin blanket wasn’t for much use. Ace huffed annoyed. They had been waiting for hours for Kidd to leave the temple with Law. It had been a clever plan. Kidd had found an access to the temple through a secret passageway and he had decided to get into the temple, find Law, and then leave from the same place. Alone, since one person was harder to discover than three of them. Instead, all Marco and Ace had to do was wait for them with the horses, and say goodbye to them as they flew the country.

Ace was going to miss both, especially Law, he was his little brother after all. But he also knew Law would be happy, he had seen the passion that Kidd put when they spoke of rescuing him, or how his look softened every time they mentioned Ace’s brother.

Kidd was totally in love with Law and although Ace's protective instinct had made him want to slowly kill the redhead for thinking about his brother in  _ that way _ , he had calmed down when Marco had pointed out that Law would be much happier with Kidd than locked in the temple. He also knew about how the both of them had been training before the test. He had seen Law chatting and riding with Kidd, so it was clear that they got along. 

Still they were taking too long.

"Do you think something had happened?" Ace asked Marco.   


"I don’t know" the blonde muttered sleepily, sinking his face into the hollow of Ace’s neck like a pillow.

Ace sighed happily at the contact. He liked it when Marco hugged him or kissed him  _ by accident _ . He felt at ease, protected, and lately, the blond did it very often. He leaned his back against the blond's chest prolonging the contact even more. Marco held his breath against his neck making Ace tremble when his lips felt against that weak spot. 

"Ace," he called him, his voice suddenly serious. "Can I ask you something?"

“Yeah”

Marco behind him tensed. Ace knew what he wanted to say, but still it was amusing to see him squirm. Ace looked up, it was a good time for this: they were alone, embraced and under the impressive starry sky. It was the most romantic and perfect situation one could imagine, if they ignored the fact that they were helping their friends escape the government.

“Mmm, Ace?” Marco began his voice nervous “You know you are someone I cherish a lot I have in high esteem…” Ace smiled. Ok, Marco was horrible at this. He chuckled and he could feel the blond at his back turn red “ Okay, fuck it, Ace, wanna date me?”   


"You are horrible at this you know?" Ace said instantly turning and facing him again. Marco looked away clearly taking it like a refusal. Ace took his face "I'll do it Marco, I want to go out with you" he murmured blushing slightly at his own words really meant, but trying to look serious. Maybe he wasn’t good at this too.

 

Marco looked at Ace doubtfully. This was too perfect, too beautiful and sudden. There had to be some problem in between, some catch, there always was. Clearly Ace hadn’t understood him or he would…

Ace must have seen the doubt in his eyes because he instantly frowned, pounced on him and kissed him.

The younger one just pressed his lips against the blonde's strongly, clearly not knowing how to give a decent kiss. He looked tough, lively, but he was so adorable and innocent for some things. So Marco simply let himself go, he took Ace’s jaw to slow him down a bit and did what he had wanted to do from the start: he kissed him.

He licked his tender lush lips. Slowly. Savoring him thoroughly, and tearing every little gasp he could from the man’s lips. Ace pressed against him a little more as if begging him touch him. Marco gave it to him too. Everything for Ace.

Opening his mouth even more, he bit Ace’s lower lip while continuing to lick and suck him. Ace sighed at the contact and tried to imitate Marco by opening his mouth. They licked each other as if they had never tasted anything better. Marco tightened his grip on the other's jaw, urging him to lean on him. The youngest did it and in the process he passed his arms around the blond’s while anxiously exploring the kiss they shared.

It was a paradise for Marco. Having Ace blushing and really interested in him, kissing him with no experience but quickly and eagerly learning. He devoured him back with eagerness, sucking the air from him, provoking and suggesting with his tongue until Ace moaned more than aroused. 

They parted at last, gasping for air. Ace leaned into Marco's chest completely red, a bulge obvious on his pants from just a kiss. Marco smiled satisfied and hugged him firmly caressing his back from under the shirt. 

For once he wanted Kidd never to appear with Law, for something to stop them so Marco and Ace could stay this way for a few more hours. Kissing, learning and touching in the middle of the night. 

 

...oOo...

Kidd watched the other two in front of him, not knowing what to do or what to say. How the hell had they ended up like that? How could everything have gone to hell so fast? The blow had been too sudden and too fast. He still couldn’t react to what he had seen:  _ Law's fake smile _ .

The boy had clearly trying to tell him that everything was fine, but with the tears falling from his eyes, with the pain on his face, he had accomplished the opposite. He had understood then. And it had broken Kidd. It had left him useless and unable to do anything but look helpless.

The redhead was still suspended in the air. Trapped by those invisible string, trying to resist them but it just being imposible. He laid simply frozen up there. Like a puppet that entertained children.

"No," he whispered so low that he could only hear himself. The syllable however seemed to give him strength. "No," he repeated again, coming out of the trance. "No!" He shrieked at the other two.

It was not going to happen. He was not going to let Law do this, not for him, not for anyone.  _ Never _ . He preferred death. Because the guilt they would both feel later would kill them slowly. Why didn’t the other one see it? Why all this? It was not going to save him at all, he had not asked for this, it wasn’t fair.

“Law don’t do it!” he yelled at the boy who had closed his eyes as soon as the blond's hands had landed on his body “I don’t care if I die but just don’t do this!”

Law turned his head away from him, ignoring him. He wasn’t going to pay any attention to him, he was going to give his life, his body, in exchange for Kidd’s, totally convinced that it was the best thing he could do. It was always the same. It was always Law who had to sacrifice for the rest, the one who gave everything to them without expecting anything in return, without worrying about himself.  _ Kidd hated it _ . He wanted Law to be more selfish, to worry about himself, to have dreams and try to get them.

He didn’t deserve was about to happen.

The blonde on Law's back smiled emptily as his hands delineated the brunette's chest tracing his tattoos and squeezing his dark brown nipples hard. Studying his new property and new toy while also torturing him. His mouth licked Law's neck with a slow, torturous lick, and during the whole process, the man didn’t take his violet eyes from Kidd's. It was a clear caress of possession, as if he was trying to make it clear to Kidd that Law was now his.

Law for his part still didn’t look up and simply cried in silence, letting the man do whatever he wanted without resisting a bit, accepting his punishment without hesitation. He was so thin, so submissive and complacent that he did not even look like the man Kidd had been training with. It was as if his life had been taken away from him. His spirit. His will to live. And it was only the beginning, it was clear that what would come next.

"Do not do it!" He screamed again, his voice breaking.

The blond laughed bitterly as he pushed Law down making him fall to the ground with a painful grunt for his injured ankle. He was humiliating them both, making it clear who was in charge and what was going to happen. Law laid on the ground trembling without even trying to get up, like a broken doll that had lost all will. Doflamingo followed him on the floor, lying on all fours over the vulnerable body of the brunette.

"Let's start with this," Doflamingo whispered.

He saw Law cringe when Doflamingo began to bite his back, marking it with his teeth and lips in another display of possession, with his hands scratching his sides as if he was an animal claiming his mate.

Kidd turned back to struggle with the firm ropes when he saw him. Redoubling his efforts and feeling the cords dig into his flesh threatening to cut him. Law didn’t deserve this, Law needed to be pampered, to be hugged and kissed between soft caresses until he sighed with pleasure like the last and first time they had done it. He did not deserve that mistreatment and abuse that he was suffering from God. The rage and anger flooded Kidd again, he was not going to let Law get hurt anymore. He twisted in the threads wishing to break the god’s neck, however Doflamingo didn’t flinch, just continued down the other's back between the licks and bites, his hands squeezing Law's tender buttocks.

 

Law kept his face pressed to the ground and simply trembled, enduring the screams of the redhead and the punishment of the god. Now the mouth of the other had closed on the base of his back and his fingers were impatiently circling his entrance while massaging his ass, doing nothing yet, but playing with it at pleasure, frightening him to what would happen.

“No, don’t even think about it” Kidd kept screaming with blood covering his body for pulling so much of the strings, but still ignoring the pain and pulling even harder. 

Doflamingo then moved slightly away from the minor to the surprise of the others. Was he going to leave? Was he going to listen to them? Law opened his eyes in surprise, raising his head from the ground ... before listening the blond removed his clothes.

Oh no, oh no, please, he had not even prepared him as Kidd had done the previous time. And if it had hurt the last time, Law did not want to think what this one would be like. He trembled in panic without the least excitement in his body to deal with the situation.

The god again cornered him against the ground on all fours above him while Law keep lying face down and not daring to move. Doflamingo was overpowering him with that position, as if he was a dog that had to master his partner to be able to fuck it.

His breath brushed the back of Law’s neck.

“This shouldn’t have been like this, Law” he muttered so low that the brunette would listen to him “but you left me no other option”

Two fingers covered in some liquid entered inside him. Law cringed as the fingers pumped him a few times stretching him anxiously, but were quickly replaced by something bigger. Much bigger. Law screamed in pain as he felt something tear inside him by the sheer side of the other’s dick. It hadn’t been enough. No preparation would ever be enough to prepare him for this.

Law whimpered on the floor. The smell of blood immediately flooded the room. Law tried to get away from the older, but the blond held him in place biting his shoulder hard until he bleed there too, warning him that if tried to resist, something bad could happen.

“Law, Law!” the redhead called him “Imbecile, leave him, you don’t see that you're hurting him?” he screamed in desperation.

The blond then began to move in response to the cries of the redhead. Quickly and deeply, hitting that spot inside Law that previously had made him moan with Kidd, but that now only teared gasps of pain from him. Doflamingo mouth was still biting him, marking the soft, delicate skin of his neck with pleasure.  _ Making Law his _ . He clearly didn’t give a shit whether Law liked it or not now. As if his only purpose right now was to make it clear that Law belonged to him, as if to make clear of what happened when someone tried to steal things from him. 

Law whimpered between desperate gasps, feeling the other enter and leave his body without the slightest delicacy. Leaving his entrance raw. His body didn’t respond any longer. His muscles had stopped fighting, sore, it was as if he had been drugged. The blond simply sought pleasure without worrying about the situation in the least. As if Law wase nothing more than a tool or an object to use when it was horny. Without feelings, only the relationship of a slave and its owner.

With Kidd it had been so different, so wonderful, so nice and perfect. He cringed when he heard him scream again. He needed to concentrate on something else or Kidd screams would finish with his last mental health. The blonde grabbed his hips deepening his thrust hitting his prostate full causing a spike of little pleasure between the pain. He concentrated on that. In the pain that invaded his body instead of the person he had just lost.

But the blonde didn’t even let him do that. Grabbing him by the chest he lifted him from his lying position until he was sitting on his huge lap, his battered back hitting the blond's strong chest with each thrust of the other. Then, Doflamingo grabbed his jaw and turned his head until he had to face the redhead suspended in the air.

“Look at him carefully Law, because this it going to be the last time you look at him” poison filled every word from the man “look at him while I fuck you and you betray him as you have betrayed me, while you lose him and you become  _ mine _ ”

Law finally looked at the person he last wanted to look at. The redhead was covered in blood and was still trying to reach him through the threads. His face showed the greatest horror he had ever seen on him and the deepest despair he had ever witnessed in his life. And to make it even worst, the tears coming down from his eyes.

_ Crying. Kidd was crying. _

He gasped as the god again fucked him at a frantic pace, mercilessly, with his hands going all over his body, touching, pinching, enticing. Law felt his body start to react to it. Law hated himself. He was worse than garbage. He deserved everything that was happening to him. It was all his fault, Kidd was crying because of him.

A feeling of revulsion flooded his mind along with everything else. Along with the betrayal of Kidd, along with the fact that he would not see him again, along with the abuse he was suffering and with his body being used by other person in torture. Dirty, disgusting, repulsive.

Law couldn’t endure it anymore.

Rolling his eyes, he fell unconscious on the gleaming marble floor. And then, Kidd's screams went out. The pain in his body stopped, and his mind sank into the pleasant darkness that surrounded him. It was a break, it was to stop worrying and just let go in that perfect world where nothing was felt. He took refuge there. Never wanting to go out again. Never wanting to live again what he had to live.

His last thought was for Kidd. He had forgotten to tell him that he loved him, he had forgotten to smile at him again reassuringly as a farewell. Although, now that he thought about it, that didn’t matter any longer.

After all, he knew that by now, Kidd would probably hate him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to say anything. This had been hard enough to translate. I need a moment.


	16. Time

...Six years later...

Moans of the purest pleasure were heard in the small tent, while the two bodies collided in the middle of the night. Wanting, needed and joined in a dance practiced many times.

"Ah Luffy!" the man of green hair moaned, as his lover pushed inside him violently again, fucking him against the bed and making the bed creak too loud for his taste. They looked like two beasts in heat, with screams, bruises, grunts and bites.

It was always the same.

Zoro must look like a bitch in heat. With his legs wide open and clearly enjoying the violent treatment he was receiving at the hands of the other. The moans and sobs for more were lost in the air as he tried to cling desperately to the youth who had brought him to this state.

"God Zoro, you are as deliciously tight as ever" his superior purred with that predatory and intelligent look he always wore in bed but nowhere else.

Luffy had always been a mystery. He had that innocence and kindness look most of the time, and then and that fury and dangerous look every time he fucked him, as if his personality twisted just for Zoro’s enjoyment. He loved the two versions, but it was definitely the dangerous and intelligent one which could shatter his defenses, and made him more submissive than a kitten in heat.

He screamed at the night arching against the mattress having already lost all ability to contain his voice due to the intense pleasure that the other was giving him. Luffy always knew how to drive him crazy with a few caresses. Yet, today, brunette above him kept torturing him without rest, squeezing his erection between his hands and preventing him from finishing while that hungry smile crossed his face.

“Idiot, stop...” Zoro insulted him scratching the younger one’s back desperately “...I can’t take it anymore….Luffy stop, I'll kill you”

But the other simply pushed him back against the mattress, and began to thrust into him more deeply, hitting his prostate with a precision and power that left him with his whole body spasming. His eyes closed tightly and his hands trembled with the intensity of the act.

“You know what you have to say if you want to finish” Luffy said with a pleased smile as he continued his torture, squeezing, pumping, ramming, making him lose his head and every part of his soul to him.

This was another of Luffy's psychotic personality problems, the green-haired man thought frustrated. Apparently his devilish part loved to torture him, humiliate him and get him out of his normal state of indifference and boredom, and the worst thing was that he always succeed no matter how hard Zoro tried to restrain himself and resist.

Zoro began to see blue stars cross his vision when Luffy continued to accelerate the frantic pace even more. He clung to the headboard of the bed unconsciously squeezing it between his hands to contain the sensation that returned to built him from head to toe. How many times had he already orgasmed? He felt his member about to explode under the grip of the other, the pressure accumulating unbearably.

"Come on, Zoro, tell me," the other crooned, approaching his mouth and whispering with desire, "tell me, and I promise that you will have the best orgasm of your life"

Zoro wanted to cry between pleading paints. The last time Luffy had said that, he had fallen unconscious because of the overwhelming wave of pleasure. Zoro didn’t know if he wanted to feel that again.

“L-let me come Luffy please” he begged as the other wanted, as always, making him beg desperate for an end, with his pride shattered and the tears of frustration in his eyes.

The brunette smiled at him affectionately and gave him a slow, comforting kiss on the lips. As a reward for his effort and for surrendering to him, a compensation prize for the lost battle.

Then he released him.

Zoro shouted against the other's mouth while the sensation dragged him from this world and took him to the heaven. He cumed wildly, dirting his chest and that of the youngest one in white. Luffy also grunted filling him completely in his own climax.

Luffy dropped to his chest and hugged him possessively with a huge smirk on his face. Zoro sighed in anger, his body unable to move. He felt ashamed, dirty and confused. When his pulse returned to normal and breathing become natural again, he couldn’t help but complain.

“Luffy you're a beast” he grunted before passing as hand over Luffy’s dark hair, his head still on his chest.

Luffy laughed. “But I love seeing you like that, you're usually so serious and quiet that I love when you make that face and scream my name”

“But couldn’t you do it with a bit more consideration? Like any normal man?” he answered pissed off. Luffy just kept laughing happy, rubbing his head against Zoro’s naked chest.

Zoro rolled his eyes. They had maintained this conversation thousands of times and had never managed to change the other's mind. The first time Luffy had attacked him suddenly, the excuse for the abuse Zoro had suffered, had been that Luffy was bored and wanted to see other emotions from him. The eldest had hallucinated for a moment as people normally ran away when they saw him, they didn’t try to fuck him saying that they wanted to see him moan and beg. At first he thought it was a joke and had allowed Luffy advances, sex was sex after all, but in the end, after the session, he had decided that he would never approach the boy again, Luffy was clearly crazy. However, after the first time, there had been a second, and a third for different and varied reasons. And so they had started.

Curiously, he no longer resisted the assaults. Luffy was someone he had admired and for whom he had ended up developing a deeper feeling. Love. It was true that Luffy had an overprotective brother and grandfather who scared him to death, but he was strong and tZoro knew he could trust him when the situation went awry.

The boy had recently been promoted to commander when Garp had retired, and immediately, Luffy had chosen Zoro as a second hand. That had left them a lot of time alone, and the situation had worsened even more. Luffy didn’t leave Zoro for a second now a days, they keep fucking and fucking, again and again. Zoro had neglected his duties several times thanks to it and the army was beginning to suffer. 

“If this goes on like this, you’ll have to find another general to attend to the army besides me” he commented in passing, alluding to the fact that right now they should be reviewing the food stores.

Luffy tensed and instantly rose on his elbows to look at his face. He was clearly angry, and Zoro could see perfectly why. He knew that Luffy loved him, but unfortunately he never managed to get the confession out of him, it was as if Luffy was afraid of losing him if he told him. Zoro had tried to convince him with his actions that it would not be like that, that he would reciprocate, but the minor seemed convinced otherwise and never let go and keep inventing excuses when he was cornered.

Zoro was getting tired of all this pretense.

"No, Zoro you are mine, I won’t let anyone else see you like this" the younger hissed with that dominant look he sometimes gave him, as if trying to convince him that his words were absolute and he was right.

"Why?" he asked, trying to tear the confession from him.

Luffy's gaze faltered. As usual.

“Because then they would fall in love with Zoro and I won’t have anyone else to have fun with” answered the boy with a clearly forced smile.

_ ‘Have fun’ _ apparently that's what they did. Zoro felt tired, mad, used. Pushing the other from above him, he cleaned himself with the sheets and got up from the shattered bed.

"Where are you going?" Luffy asked at once, chasing him with his eyes. Needy. Worried. His feelings were so obvious, why then the hesitation? “Did you get angry?” his voice seemed lost and sad, and Zoro regretted being so abrupt. But only slightly.

The green haired ignored the second question as he picked up his clothes.

“I'm going to do what we should be doing. I'll wait for you at the rookie store to pass review ...Sir" he answered, pronouncing the last word with a coldness and formality that made it clear that he could not feel anything for him.

After all, as Luffy had said, this was just  _ ‘fun’ _ .

...oOo...

 

Ace drank quietly from the bottle while his thoughts fell back into the distant of memories. It was cold in the cave and it was as wet as ever, so the little fire that he had prepared didn’t heat up as much as Ace had originally expected.

The darkness of the night was even more intense in that little hole than in the outside, and if it had not been for the torch he had carried at the beginning from the boat to that place, Ace would have fallen with the slippery soil and the cheating holes. Yet, despite the difficulties, he had managed to arrive and prepare the place for what would happen. Now, with nothing else to do, he waited in the silent cave while watching the sizzling fire.

Finally a soft splash took him out of his reverie and turning his head, he look at the familiar figure that as he had done approached the cave in the middle of the sea in a little boat. Luffy jumped from the boat when it touched the rock and quickly tied it to Ace's before approaching in total silence the small illuminated circle.

They did not need to talk or say anything, there was no need for it. This was an old ceremony for them, a melancholy and depressing one. Ace passed the bottle to Luffy when he sat down and his brother swallowed some of the contents with a serious and transcendental face that looked a lot like Ace's now a days.

"Six years have passed," said Luffy, interrupting the deep silence.

Ace nodded quietly without knowing what else to say, just watching the fire dance magically in front of his eyes with a hypnotic and sad glow.

"How do you think he will be? will he remember us?" The boy continued interrupting the silence again.

Ace sighed tiredly and stirred the fire with a piece of wood trying to revive it a little more to warm them up and light up the depressing environment. And to distract himself from the answers.

“I do not know Luffy”

Both continued in silence with their heads down looking at the fire and not daring to look up at the huge rock that was one of the walls of the cave. The old rock that had their names engraved into it along with Law's. The rock they returned every six day of the tenth month and which had remained as their brother's only reminder.

That wet hole had been their secret place as children, when Garp, tired of having them swarming around the house pissing him off, had taken them to the beach to run and calm down. It was a cave they had discovered by chance and that, when the tide came up, was covered by salt water and seaweed. It was a place that nobody knew and that they had taken over when they were barely twelve years old. It had been their personal sanctuary. They used to sat around a bonfire, Law telling them horror stories that made Luffy cry and Ace mock him between nervous glances at the exit.

Now, they came back to it only once a year to commemorate Law's birthday, they drank for him, told the fire about their lives as if Law was there with them, and then they left with the memory of what had happened killing them inside.

“Zoro has been mad at me” Luffy said suddenly.

Ace smiled at him affectionately, grateful for the distraction. He knew about the relationship of his brother and, although at first he had wanted to break Zoro’s face, he had later discovered that instead of Zoro taking advantage of of Luffy, it was rather the other way around. That alone had destroyed the idea he had had of his little innocent little brother. Then, when he came out of shock, he had needed to apologize to Zoro for the threats, and mentally kill his brother for putting him in those situations. 

Still, he also knew that the relationship was not moving as it should, and honestly, he was starting to worry. Especially since the fault was Luffy’s, the person who was complaining about it right now.

"Why don’t you tell him you love him for once?" He said to his brother.

“No” he replied without hesitation.

“Why not?” asked Ace instantly wanting to get to the bottom of the problem and help his little brother not so innocent anymore.

Luffy shifted uncomfortably in place and looked away from the fire. Ace waited for the other to say something patient, really curious about why Luffy refused to move forward in their relationship when it was clear that the two wanted it.

“Because when you confess it never ends well, when you fall in love, everything breaks down” he whispered under total conviction. Ace frowned without understanding much why he said it “Look at Kidd and Law, I'm sure they loved each other and that Kidd told him ... and look how they finished” he finally said.

Ace looked at him horrified. That was the most absurd thing he had ever heard.

“Luffy, what happened …”

“No” Luffy interrupted him “It ends badly, I know, I've seen him, and I don’t want to end up like …” He broke off before finishing the sentence and suddenly looked at Ace guilty. 

Ace tensed and shot him a pained look. Luffy looked away. Luffy knew that Ace blamed himself for what had happened six years ago. He tried to remind himself that if hadn’t been his fault, that he hadn’t been able to do anything, but still...

Silence reappeared, tense for a moment before Ace interrupted him again.

“Law is fine Luffy, I know it, he was strong, remember? ... and I know he would tell you not to think such bullshit, I would say that he and Kidd are fine even if they didn’t end up together” he said looking at his serious little brother “They are fine” 

Luffy shook his head without a hint of conviction, he had already accepted the cruel reality. Ace clenched his fists in anger at seeing him like that. Couldn’t they continue their life? Why were they still punishing themselves? Luffy had been too small and innocent when it had all happened and it had clearly affected him, but Ace hadn’t expected this.

What had happened to Kidd and Law had been horrible, it was true, he had seen the redhead when they had taken him away from the temple to never return, and it was an image that would continue to torment his most vivid fears and nightmares. But there were also good things in life. He had Marco. Why couldn’t Luffy see them? They were happy and they had confessed or did Luffy think they were also going to end badly?

“Luffy, not everything is like that, Marco and I …”

“It's not the same” the minor interrupted him “You are both respected by the city, everyone accepts you, you both share your thoughts and trust each other...but Zoro and I are the opposite, sometimes I think he hates me, and besides, it's... "He closed his eyes and took a deep breath."We're like Kidd and Law, more...intense, not so respected, I know it's not going to end well if I say it, there's no way it can do”

Ace watched the fire silently without knowing what to say to Luffy to encourage him. He no longer had any arguments. And also this had to be a happy moment, a party for Law, not a torture for them.

Also, they could not stay there much longer. Soon the tide would start rising and it would be impossible to get out of there without getting wet. And Marco was waiting for him at home. And tomorrow they had generals meeting with Luffy and the rest and they needed to prepare and sleep.

There were so many excuses to leave and so few to stay he realized suddenly hating himself for it. He raised his head and looked at pathetic scratches on the rock, trying to look like letters.  _ ‘Secret lair of Ace, Law and Luffy, brothers and friends until the end of time’ _ A typical phrase without much meaning. 

It had taken them hours to engrave the words on the hard stone. It had been a promise in another time, now Ace always tensed when reading it, seeing the promise that had been made as children laid broken.

Still Ace was convinced that this couldn’t end like this, that life couldn’t be so cruel and that the horrible situation would be solved in some way. And yet the little hope was fading as the years passed and that possibility seemed increasingly remote and distant. At the end, he would end up assuming that he would never see his smart and proud brother again. 

But was this really going to end like this? There really was no hope for anyone? Were they going to just give up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted this chapter to be a pause to digest what happened, so yeah, no KidLaw, but hey, you have a Zoro....I assure they would reappear in next chapter.


	17. Three days

The storm thundered over the small city like a monster waking up from the depths. The roar of the wind along with the intense rain urged everyone to stay at home and shelter from the powerful force of nature until it calmed down. Children cuddled fearfully under their blankets, and adults looked with worried faces at the windows wondering if this was indeed the end of the world.

However, a single traveler crossed the roads in the direction of the city as if nothing was happening. His posture was calm and confident, and he walked with the firm and powerful step of a man who had traveled the road many times. The heavy rain had already soaked the soft black hooded cloak he wore, but instead of bothering him and making him try to take refuge under one of the nearby oaks, the man continued to walk as if this was an old friend he had rediscovered after a long time.

It was only when the traveler finally saw the imposing and lonely city of small white houses in the distance, that he stopped for a moment. His heavy boots sank slightly into the mud and the cloak billowed in the wind with a sudden gust of wind revealing a slight metallic glow beneath it. Suddenly, as if in response to his actions, the sky lit up with a lightning and the wide smile that hid the hood could be distinguished for a moment.

It was a hard and bitter smile. Strong and powerful. The smile of someone who, after much hardship, finds something funny again in life.  _ The smile of someone who knows he can change the course of history with a small gesture _ . That smile felt like a chill in the surrounding nature, as if its mere presence meant the end.

This man should not be here.

The traveler, however, rearranged the hood hiding the fire red hair that had been seen for a small moment, and continued walking in the direction of the city of Delphi.

With the same slow and calm step producing a shooting echo in the furious nature. As a quiet countdown to the end. As a herald of death heading to take his next sould. As someone who returns home after many years.

 

...oOo…

The blond-haired god sat on his huge bed, annoyed. He couldn’t sleep and he didn’t know why. He felt an uneasy mix of anxiety and impatience that had awakened him from his sleep,  when dawn was beginning to rise through the dark clouds that were pouring their fury into the city.

In the silence surrounding him, usual on those hours when the world still didn't want to wake up, he observed the dark-haired boy who slept peacefully beside him almost hidden by the blankets and pillows. It was beginning to get cold but Doflamingo didn’t understand why the other insisted on immersing himself in the sheets, Doflamingo was totally naked and he could stand the temperature perfectly.

He sighed at the boy’s image. The boy's face was so calm, so relaxed and peaceful, as if his worries and armor disappeared in the little moment of rest.

Doflamingo got up from the huge bed, not wanting to think about that. Distractedly, he put on some pants he found on the floor and decided to take a walk to relax and forget about an issue he didn’t want to think about.

Because he had done it too many times and he never could find a solution to the sudden lack of feelings from Law. It was as if Doflamingo had killed him inside, as if he had totally destroyed him by leaving an empty shell. It had worried him from the first moment it had started. A few years ago, as if tired of screaming at him and resisting him, Law had simply stopped. Just one day he looked at him with anger and hatred and the next he was totally dead and indifferent. He did not eat, he did not talk, he didn’t seem to want to do anything.

At first Doflamingo had been angry, he preferred Law to hate him than fall into that state of death in life. Then had worried when seeing that nothing he did seemed to affect Law. After that he had cried, begged and humiliated himself as he had never before done in his life, just wanting to see the slightest emotion on Law’s eyes. But nothing had worked. At the end the blond had no choice but to accept what had happened.

Still, so much rejection hurt. He knew he had been wrong, that he could have been a bit more merciful, but Law and his lover had left him no other choice. The fault was not only his, the fault was also the other two for deceiving him. Yes, if Law had accepted him from the beginning all this shouldn’t have happened, if Law hadn’t been so…

He shook his head without wanting to think about it. He continue to walk barefoot and aimlessly through his immense property of white marble floors and high decorated columns that gave space to the colorful gardens in late autumn blooms.

FInally he stopped slowly in front of a small patio he already known. The courtyard in which everything had begun and finished six years ago. A place where he had lost Law and where the boy had become his forever.

Why had he ended up here? Why had his steps taken him to this place? Tired of everything, he turned around not wanting to walk any further, and approached a column to lean on it. He then observed the turbulent gray sky that boiled with huge gray clouds dimly illuminated by the blue dawn. Everyone was silent, as if scared by the impressive storm from the previous night, as if waiting for something.

The blonde looked at the clouds for a while trying to leave his mind blank and feeling as he was slowly relaxing.

“It’s a nice day, don’t you think?”

Doflamingo jumped in his place surprised by the sudden voice that spoke. He hadn’t heard him there. He hadn’t noticed anyone approaching despite having absolute awareness of his surroundings.

And that could only mean one thing.

Alarmed, he turned his head looking for the intruder in his temple until he found a huge figure sitting on the stairs that led to the garden. At his feet. He was hidden by an old, soggy black cloak that showed absolutely nothing of his body to help him recognize who it was.

“Who you are? How did you get in?” he ask, tense and slightly annoyed. He didn’t like being surprised, because normally, that meant the stranger was someone strong, and then things didn’t end well.

The man in the cloak however chuckled. A sarcastic, annoyed and dark laugh. Then he pulled down the hood slowly revealing that impressive red hair that had been haunting Doflamingo’s memories.

"You!" He hissed, his voice suddenly full of hatred and poison.

He quickly moved away from the column, tensing, preparing and standing firmly on his two feet facing an old enemy. Eustass Kidd. The man he had lost Law to. 

“It's been a while” said the redhead rising from the stairs and facing him too, but unlike Doflamingo he moved in a lazy way, almost uncaring.

He had also grown, not only physically by what Doflamingo could see. He had gained a lot more muscle and his bearing seemed more powerful and imposing. His eyes had also lost the innocent passion and illusion normal to youth. He seemed more focused, more secure. Dangerous.

And he had returned.

“I told you that the next time I saw you I would kill you” he reminded him out of his mind. How dare he? How did he dare to disobey him? He had given him a second chance as Law had asked, he had contained himself not to kill him.  _ How dare he?! _

The redhead smiled back with that smile, amused, but full of hate. This was going to end so wrong, Doflamingo decided eagerly. He would erase him from this lands. He would destroy the nightmare he had been having all this years! This man returning, Law away running away from him. 

“Well, I wonder if you could still do that” the man challenged, interrupting his thoughts “Old man”

With those simple words, Doflamingo exploded. He angled his threads around the body of the redhead and squeezed with all his might without giving him even the slightest chance. It was his fault that Law was like acting so weirdly, because of him, Law was not his as he should be. The hatred and resentment had grown over the years after the incident until the redhead  had became his lifelong enemy, the person he hated the most.

Because of him, Doflamingo remained alone. All the misfortunes he suffered could be attributed to him! But now he had him in front again, something he never thought would happen, and he was provoking him and giving him the opportunity to end up with what he had been wishing to end for this last six years. 

The boy extended his smile and raised his head exposing his neck, offering himself to his death. Doflamingo smiled macabrely as he felt his threads biting the other's skin, getting stronger and stronger.

Until they simply  _ disappeared _ .

The blonde found himself blinking anxiously waiting to see the scarlet blood drip from the lifeless body of the other. The redhead however just smiled arrogantly. The blond blinked confused trying to understand what had happened and why the other remained breathing. 

"Any problem?" The redhead asked with a smirk.

Doflamingo glared at him. What had just happened? What had he done?

"You see," Kidd said with a smirk of victory, and bored eyes "thanks to the forced and indefinite exile that I was forced to endure because of your, I have learned some new skills and have  learned about others quite ... interesting” he commented mysteriously.

"I'm glad then," the blonde answered clenching his teeth, trying to call his power back and put an end to this stupidity once and for all. "And I suppose that some of those things concern me and are the reason why you're here, aren’t they?”

“Of course!” The man replied happily.

“Well, I'm sorry, but unfortunately for you, there is nothing that can affect me, I’m a god, you have waste your time” he said faking security. He still didn’t understood what had happened but would learn soon. 

"I beg to disagree" Kidd replied with a fake grimace. Then he looked at him and suddenly his voice turned serious “I’m quite sure that if the real reason you forced Law into the temple  where to be revealed to some...people, it will cause quite the stir”

The blond felt his pulse paralyze at those words.

Then, Doflamingo decided that Kidd definitely had to die. Not just for personal reasons, but for the good of the city and Greece itself. His body tensed instantly and he slowly turned into an offensive position. Kidd saw him and moved accordingly, his training as a soldier clearly helping him. 

“Please, don’t do that, as I told you I’ve learned some things during these last years and several important people would be deeply affected if you hurt me, you see” he repeated again with that  unclear way that didn’t reveal anything.

"What do you mean?" 

Kidd smiled with that arrogant happy look and Doflamingo realized that he was not going to like what he was going to hear.

“Sir, you are in the presence of the new emperor of the Great Roman Empire” he commented opening his arms in a magnanimous pose, smirking “An emperor who had just allied himself with the Persian Empire, and that together hold and army that can destroy old little Greece in less than a week” he finished laughing delighted.

Doflamingo clenched his fists. It was a joke. A stupid and disgusting joke. He was lying. There wasn’t a chance this was true.

He went to reply, to dismiss the bluff, but Kidd, as if reading his mind, undid the cloak that covered his body revealing what hid underneath.

An impressive gold armor typical from the Roman military elites with all the decoration and paraphernalia that they used to wear, met Doflamingo’s violet eyes. He flinched in terror. The redhead was the prototype of a Roman general: the winter leather boots he wore, the imperial red skirt with the soft leather strips, the amazing steel sword from the Roman colonies of Hispania, the crimps of an emperor...

Kidd couldn’t have forged such a perfect copy in such little time, much less have reached Delphi with such a treasure without help. The bandits would have stolen it before he even crossed the border. He was telling the truth. And that was the worst thing that could have happened.

The nightmare was turning much worse than he had anticipated.

"What do you want?" he asked with a dry mouth, knowing the answer already.

“Law” he said “Give Law back to me and you will continue to have your damn temple and your damn religion, decline my offer and you will  fall along with your damn country”

Clear and precise, without the slightest chance to respond and negotiate. It was such a stupid declaration of war: If Law left the temple, Greece was going to fall despite the supposed promise of peace that Eustass proposed. He knew it, it was like the simplest mathematical equation, Law couldn’t leave the temple. But if Law stayed Greece would also fall as the redhead had promised.

The result was the same, the only difference would be who would make them fall. Doflamingo knew perfectly well who would be more dangerous and which of the two battles was worth fighting. In which he had a chance to win.

Doflamingo was not going to surrender or give Law away. Greece would not fall so easily even if two empires opposed it. They were the cradle of the known civilization, they had the best politicians, philosophers, mathematicians and strategists,  _ they would not fall so easily _ . And besides, he was not going to let this man manipulate or blackmail him like this. He was a god! The other must know what he was facing.

"You don’t need to give me an answer right now" Kidd interrupted his thoughts quickly "I will be back in three days. Accompanied by my dear friend Darius III of Persia, and then we can see if we go to war or continue in peace."

Dario of Persia? the blond froze. No, he couldn’t be there, he couldn’t ...

Kidd, without further ado and seeing that the blond had just understood the problem, turned with his back and went back to the imposing wall. Doflamingo no longer knew what to do, because the two battles could become one so easily ... the rage flooded his veins before such an insult, before such mockery of his person. He had to see the other one crying, suffering, screaming ...

Kidd jumped over the high wall with a surprising ease and sat on the flat surface, he gave him one last look. Hate, anger and rage shone in his eyes. Then he turned, and disappeared on the other side. 

 

 ...oOo…

Doflamingo returned to his extravagant room more relaxed. He had completely destroyed the small garden and the colonnade where he had met the redhead leaving it unrecognizable. But he was still quite upset and his mind kept turning the matter around.

The man stopped in the middle of the room breathing heavily and his eyes instantly flew to the bed where Law was still sleeping peacefully without having moved in the slightest. Totally oblivious to the problem, with his face calm and still immersed in the fluffy blankets.

His mind went blank.

With a sudden feeling of possessiveness and need, he rushed to the bed and crawled under the covers looking for the boy's warm body.

Law stirred in his dreams as he felt his cold body wrap around him but he continued to sleep peacefully without deigning to wake up. Doflamingo wrapped him completely, pulling him against his chest and squeezing him in a suffocating embrace. He relished the smell of the sea from his hair and the soft, pleasant touch of his toasted skin. He outlined his neck with his lips and pushed his face against the boy’s neck and released a sigh of pure pleasure.

He loved Law, there was no turning back. Although he had tried to avoid it, even though this shouldn’t have happened, he had fallen in love with Law completely. His mere vision made his day a better one, touching him, feeling him as his, as now, reassured him as nothing could do. Although Law hated him, and although he was in that unsetting state, he had become indispensable to him. His food, his joy, something to live after endless centuries of pathetic loneliness.

He was not going to leave him. They were not going to take the boy from him, he thought holding into Law as if his life depended on it.

_ Never _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, one of my favourite characters is about to be introduced. Dario is an OC, although I made him from an historical character so I don't know if I shall really call him OC. 
> 
> On another note, yeah, Kidd...haha, he controls an empire...haha...I'm not going to comment on that. Haha Doflamingo, yeah too, he is in love, and a bit possesive, who could have guessed? 
> 
> In any case, I hope you liked it.


	18. Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is not as hardcore as before but I am obliged to warn about non-con and abuse in this chapter, be aware. And again remember this has a happy ending.

Doflamingo, after a while, felt Law stirring in his arms wanting to escape his possessive embrace. He must have gotten up a while ago, but the blond was still too upset and too comfortable to do it. Holding the brunette in his arms, naked, cradled against his chest was simply too perfect to let go.

Law again tried to separate, wanting to get up and Doflamingo tightened even more his hug until Law let out a moan of pain. Doflamingo cursed. Gently, he sank his face into the boy's neck and began to spread light kisses all over the skin he was able to reach. Hair, neck, shoulders, without violence, nor aggression, just a warm caress in the cold morning. Law at first had tensed at the contact, but lately, he always ended up relaxing, as if he knew that Doflamingo couldn't be stopped.

Still there was something different in the ambience today, a slight tension in the air, a secret hidden in the lazy silence that surrounded them. Law seemed to notice it too.

"What happens Donquixote?" he asked intelligently in that monotonous voice that looked as if death itself was speaking.

_That tone that the god hated._

"Nothing" answered the blond continuing his work and ignoring the question, savoring the other's warmth slowly through his lips.

Law was so twistedly addictive that Doflamingo swore he could spend all morning just kissing him, but today he was stopped when the boy turned in his grip and stared into his face. His metallic eyes seemed so exhausted and tired of everything, that the blond almost felt as if he was being teared apart when he saw them.

"You are lying" sentenced Law in a soft voice, without accusing or scolding him for doing so, only just stating the fact and demanding to know the truth.

Shit. Doflamingo forced a smile on his face although it was clear that the other would not accept it. He never did it. They had been living together for six years and Doflamingo still failed to impress the man despite his attempts and the passive state Law had fallen into.

"Why do you say that, Law? What reason would you have to say that?" He mooked, and then he went to the other's lips and stole another kiss trying to distract him.

Law for his part didn't blink. Neither astonishment nor disgust shone in his eyes, he just continued looking tired. Scrutinizing him with his soulless eyes.

"It's been years since you did something like this" Law commented when the blond parted from his lips "you only turn cloying and possessive when something bad happens, like when that incident with Robin and the oracle" Law continued, and Doflamingo could read perfectly between the lines 'or when the trial began' 'or when Kidd entered the temple'. Still none of them uttered words, it was simply something that they never talked about "What happens?" Law repeated insistent.

Doflamingo instantly lost the false smile. He knew that he couldn't hide this, and that if he didn't explained it to him first, Law would discovered it on his own. He had to cut down the hope before it sprouted. It could not be delayed

Doflamingo then watched the other closely. Although Law had lost that sarcastic joy from before, he had turned even more attractive with that sadness and melancholy on his gestures. He had also grown up and lost his childish appearance until he became the incredible adult he was now. He was so attractive and intelligent, the only thing Doflamingo wanted to do was kiss and loved him until their last day, until he lost him, until he had devoured him completely. Until Law returned his affection, until he let him touch him voluntarily, because he really liked his caresses and not because he could do nothing to avoid them.

Doflamingo watched his dead expression, losing himself in those metallic orbs that attracted him as nothing in this world had. He wanted to see his expression when he told him, he wanted to see how he took it.

"Kidd has returned" he finally confessed.

And with just three simple and stupid words, Law came back to life.

It was like seeing a plant bloom after winter. His eyes brightened with the old joy of years ago, the emotion, the surprise, the happiness all bloomed in his eyes. Only at the mention of Kidd's name, only after hearing from him did Law seem to want to breathe again. None of his pleas, none of Doflamingo tears, nothing that he did had ever helped Law. But it was just to whisper the other's name and he seem to want to live again.

It was not fair.

Fury, jealousy and rage filled on the blond's veins. So Law was still in love with Kidd. After so many years he still was not completely his, he didn't even appreciating him in the least. The gray eyes however doubted, a slight hesitation and fear that Doflamingo had already known. That placated him slightly.

"And...what did you do?" Law asked in a soft voice. Trembling, worried, hesitant to know what had happened. All for the redhead.

'This is it', Doflamingo thought. He was going to end this now as he had intended. He was going to make Law his forever.

"I killed him," he whispered against the other's mouth. Lying viciously without a hint of remorse.

Then he kissed him slowly, savoring the half-opened lips of the other as Law let out a gasp of surprise. He pressed them closer, entangling their breaths expectantly, as an apology of some sorts, sorry for what he had done, but without much remorse on his conscience in reality. Closing his eyes and savoring the slight moment before the passion rose.

Enjoying the man in his arms that could only be his now.

That's why he didn't see how Law's eyes darkened again, how he trembled slightly before closing his eyes trying to contain his emotions. He didn't see how Law unsuccessfully reconstructed the mask that had broken for a moment, he didn't realize how he felt back into the deep darkness in which he had been stuck for six years and that had just now turned a thousand times deeper.

Doflamingo moved slightly away from the other's mouth and looked at him calmly. The boy had his eyes closed and tears were running down his delicate cheeks uncontrollably. However, his breathing was calm, he had not left it out a sound and he seemed calm and normal. Although Doflamingo had learned to read through the mask and now that it had been broken after so many years, the other was like an open book.

He kissed him again, this time more possessive and passionate, this time pushing their tongues and beginning the practiced dance. His hands flew to the boy's cheeks cradling them and wiping away the tears. He hated to see him cry like that. But he hated even more that Law was crying for the imbecile of the redhead. He nibbled at his bottom lip gently wanting him to leave the sadness and focus on him. Only in him.

"I'm sorry, Law," he whispered as his mouth spread little licks across the other's jaw delicately. "I'm sorry."

His tongue continued to lower, delineating the thin brown neck with affection, licking the hot, exposed skin that trembled slightly in its path. He did not bite, He did not press, He just caressed and gave pleasure. It was simply exquisite. His hands traced the long, strong legs, opening them until he was able to lie between them.

His tongue continued licking the slender neck, anxious for that delicious skin, leaving soft pink marks on the marks of the previous times. His hands continued to caress the caramel brown legs, the sides of his hip, delineating each curve, going up and then back down before squeezing that delicious ass between his hands with possessiveness. Trying to warm the other and get him out of his sadness.

Law put his hands to his hair and pulled him up, urging him to raise the head off his neck. Their lips came together for the first time desperate, sucking, tasting and asking for more. Law squeezed him hard against his body as if trying to deepen the contact, lifting his hips to match the blond's ones on top of him and squeezing them together tightly. Letting both erections met with equal needed.

Doflamingo groaned against his mouth loving feeling him so needy.

God, only Law could turn him so hot with a single movement. Separating himself from the kiss, he licked again all over the tan body, savoring every little nook and curve of the other until he reached Law's crotch. Opening his legs and exposing the trembling entrance of the dark haired man, he began to anxiously lick him with languid licks making the other tremble under him. He was so hot and tight and at the same time so exhausted and ready for him. Law was always so fucking tight that Doflamingo felt like he was sleeping with a virgin every time they did it. He could not wait to get his cock back into that liquid heat. God just thinking about it, made it difficult for him not to orgasm. Law was his weak point, his damn temptation, he could not spend a day without that body by his side and they both knew it.

His other hand flew upward, opening and exposing Law more before him, greedy for observing everything he could of the body beneath him. The boy still clung to him as if he did not want to let him go either. As if Doflamingo was the only thing he had left in this life. The god's hand caught Law's throbbing cock against his stomach and gently squeezed it again and again, making the boy squirm and scattering the precum that began to drip down the length.

Finally, he thought it was enough, he could not wait any longer.

Rising again over the boy, he caught his panting lips again. He hugged him, held him, comforted him with kisses and caresses. And then slowly he pull his fully erect member out of his pants and brought it close to the throbbing heat in which he had melted so many times. The gray eyes sought his violet ones, they were still flooded with tears.

"Stop crying Law" he ordered giving him a kiss on the forehead "I'm here, nothing is going to happen"

The tears continued unabated and the gray eyes looked at him with a mix of hurt and supplication. Doflamingo began to enter inside him feeling instantly how the other seemed to want to suck him up and never let him go. Fuck. Law. Fuck.

The boy returned again to hug him by the neck and to wrap him with those long legs. Doflamingo held them at his waist while one of his hands wrapped around his hip finding the right position for what was going to happen. He pushed deeper, until he was balls deep in the other. With that suffocating heat and that pressure surrounding him. It was incredible to feel him like that, so perfect and delicious that it felt like home.

"Don't leave me" he heard the brunette murmure against his neck between gasps "Do not leave me too, please" his voice felt broken "promise me"

Doflamingo opened his eyes surprised at the comment. It was the first time that Law showed him the slightest affection. That he asked for something. For a while he could do nothing but sit still and feel the other's tears against his neck. Then he reacted. He was happy but at the same time he worried about the state of the other. He returned the hug to the other and began spreading out kisses over his hair and head.

"Sure Law, do not worry," he whispered, "you'll always have me here," he assured him.

And without more began to thrust into him gently. Without violence, without pain. Soft and calm, tearing quickly slightest gasp of pleasure from Law every time he hit that sweet spot inside him that he had already learned by heart. Riding him in the way that Law liked it, and the one that had teared cries of pure pleasure from him other times.

The brunette still didn't let go of him in the least, clinging to him as if his life depended on it. Doflamingo responded in the same way, focusing only on the other's pleasure and forgetting about his own. He caressed him, licking all the weak spots he had learned in those six years, that tender skin between his neck and shoulder, the earlobe with the golden earrings, the groin, his dark nipples. Meanwhile he fucked him slowly but deeply, savoring in his own body every sound that escaped those lips when he hit his prostate or when he caressed his swollen member.

Law was panting against his neck with his face buried in the hollow of his shoulder. His body moved with his in the languid movements of sex. Law's cock began to tremble and Doflamingo rubbed it against his hand giving it the friction it needed. Law whimpered desperate every time their bodies separated and moaned satisfied every time they met again.

Doflamingo didn't know who was the first to climax, if the child under his attentions or him listening and seeing him in that state. It didn't matter in the least. What mattered was that Law was beginning to accept him, that he had asked him to stay by his side, that he had opened up to him.

Hugging the other under him, still panting from the orgasm, he pulled him close to his body and squeezed him in another possessive embrace against his chest. Trying to hide the tears that kept coming from the gray's eyes and imagining that they were not there. That the child was not crying, that the new show of affection from the child, that all the kisses and begs, were not due to the new loss, but to Doflamingo hard efforts to conquer him. That Law hugged him back because he loved him, not because he needed comfort in the face of loss.

...oOo...

Marco was sitting in the same tavern as always drinking the same old shit and just as always. It was depressing. Ace had told him that he had to talk seriously with Luffy about some things and that he would be home late that night. Zoro, Bartolomeo and the other generals were still fixing the damage caused in the city by the storm, and they had not been able to accompany him to the bar either. So he sighed and tilted the glass again until he felt the liquor burn his throat.

Oh that felt good. He looked around. The place was just as filthy and depressing as always: the bony owner was still singing strange songs and scaring the female clientele, the thugs and unlawful people were still piling up in the corners, and the air of the place was still stinking of substances little beneficial to their health.

Yes, Marco loved that place.

Suddenly a door slamming behind him announced that someone had just entered the bar and slightly tilting his head, he looked at the hooded figure that had made an appearance with arrogance, as if the damn place belonged to him. He was followed by a masked man with long blond hair who observed the place with what looked like entertainment and fun.

Marco did not give much importance to the newcomers, after all, the hooded ones had become something habitual in the last years. Although the masked-thing was new.

He continued to drink happily until he felt the strangers approach and sit right next to him at the bar at a distance too close for his liking. Only his friends and Ace were allowed to crowd his personal space. Well, Ace was more than welcome to do whatever he wanted with him, Marco thought smiling.

The stranger at his side, the one wearing the hood, however, did not seem unfazed by his grunts or glares and simply called the waiter. Leaving a gleaming gold coin on the table he pointed to what Marco was drinking and held up two fingers. The waiter seemed to understand and,giving the man a forced smile, turned to prepare the drinks.

Marco then looked more closely at the man. The arrogant posture, the imposing height and musculature and the familiar bracelets on the wrists. He frowned. He had seen those garments before, but where?

Suddenly the man turned and smiled arrogantly under his hood.

Marco felt his jaw drop leaving him with his mouth open like an imbecile. That annoying smile, those reddish and dangerous eyes that matched the scarlet hair hidden under the hood, the pale skin, the bracelets, the fact that he was hiding under the cloak ...

For a moment he just watched him without words. Then he rose from the stool pushing the chair to the floor and also smashing his beloved drink on the way. The people around him did not even give them a sideways glance, after all it was _that_ kind of place.

"Kidd" he said, calling the name of his old best friend.

The other smiled satisfied urging him with a gesture of his hand to calm down and to return to sit next to him. The other man in the mask watched his reactions with amusement, or at least that was Marco believed, he couldn't see his face.

Still stunned, Marco lifted the stool from the floor and sat back on it with great difficulty. What was he doing there? Why had he returned? What if they caught the idiot?

"I'm glad to see you, Marco, it's been a while" Kidd said with a hoarse voice than Marco remembered, but as if it was the most normal thing in the world to say.

And then, as always, Marco wanted to deck him.


	19. Gaining Power

The three men sitting at the bar continued to drink from their respective jars in silence, each one lost in thought. The tavern was almost deserted due to the lateness of the hour and it was the perfect moment, surrounded by that solitude, to maintain the conversation that was burning in Marco's tongue.

"What are you doing here, Kidd?" He asked with his eyes on his drink and with a slight, serious and tense tone impregnating his voice.

Kidd blinked for a confused moment, as if the conversation had brought him out of his trance and his convoluted thoughts. He looked at Marco by his side and smiled bitterly as if apologizing in advance.

"I've come back for …"

"You're an idiot!" Marco interrupted, knowing perfectly well what he would say" The biggest idiot I've ever known".

Kidd raised an eyebrow with a slight twitch in it. "What?"

"You can't do this, Kidd, I've had enough with the whole Law rescue, how do you think Ace would react if we lose you too?" Kidd at this, smiled bemused. Marco frowned. "What do you think would happen if you get caught genius? What do you think they will do to you if Doflamingo finds out you're here?"

Kidd released a chuckle at that last comment. "Oh, do not worry about that, he already knows that I'm here"

Marco went pale. He watched as Kidd took the glass to his lips to continue drinking still with the smile on his lips. As if nothing happened and the best thing he could be doing was drinking in the tavern.

Unable to contain himself any longer, he got up and finally punched Kidd with all his will, making him fall from the chair into the floor. Kidd, for a moment, laid there stunned, but then stood up again in front of the blonde he called friend. A wild dangerous smile spread on his face.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked, rubbing his jaw where a red mark had began to appear. The blonde in the mask chuckled at them both.

"You should tell him everything first Kidd, at least if you want to keep your head on your shoulders," the masked man finally spoke in a calm voice.

Kidd signed and sat back down on the wooden stool. He of course, grabbed his drink again.

"Who are you?" Marco asked the other blond man.

"Killer, a friend from Rome" he said shrugging.

Marco scrutinized the two friends with his eyes, wanting a damn explanation. Kidd keep sulking. The blond man seemed to be amused at this. In the end, as it seemed that the redhead was not going to answer, it was Killer who spoke.

"Well, Kidd is Rome's new emperor" he said happily, causing the silence to re-establish itself in the tavern. "He went this morning to visit the god, politically speaking, there was nothing the man could do to someone with so much power, he was safe"

Marco, raised an eyebrow skeptical. Kidd? The idiot? Emperor of Rome?

"Of course, and I am a butterfly flying through the countryside" he commented sarcastically "Stop joking, this is serious, and tell me what you are doing here"

Kidd glared at him. "That _is_ the truth"

Marco groaned.

"Kidd, my friend, it is impossible for someone like you to be able to become emperor, you lack patience, intelligence, charisma and patience" he repeated.

"Well that _patientless_ man is still the emperor" Kidd said with a certainty annoyed tone that made Marco doubt.

Marco watched him for a moment in that sudden state of seriousness, and knew then that he was telling the truth. Oh dear. _What the actual fuck?! Kidd was in charge of an empire?_ He shivered, sitting down again on the stool.

"I don't understand it" Marco said terrified.

Kidd grunted in as if agreeing with him. Marco looked at him. It could have been six years but Kidd was the same as always. He hadn't changed much. Physically yeah, he looked like a completely different person, but talking with him...well it was like going back to the past.

Kidd suddenly looked at him and smiled broadly with a look of amusement and sadness in his eyes.

"It's alright, I don't believe it myself either sometimes, I will try to explain" he said leaving the empty glass on the table and turning to him with a serious look "As you know, when I was caught in the temple, they imprisoned me and kept me locked up for two days"

"Yes, the tricked trial, I remember that" Marco said with a grimace.

"Well, after that, they took me to the northern border and I wandered around the place without knowing what to do. For a few weeks I just...wasn't myself, I sat somewhere to do nothing, and fell to the floor to sleep when I couldn't stand anymore. I did not eat, I did not move, I did not do anything. I just couldn't. I was...like in a trance. After what happened with Law, and seeing what Doflamingo did to him...well, my mind was in denial.

I don't know how long I spend in that state, but one day, I got up and started looking for food and something to drink. I guess it was the survival instinct more than anything, yet I still could not think clearly and was in the middle of nowhere. I remember starting walking. Just moving, staying still made me remembering so I walked until my legs hurt and I fell to the floor exhausted, with my mind blank. I walked and walked until the landscape changed completely and the ground covered with a green blanket and then a white one. There were high mountains, it was raining like I had never seen before and it was too cold. But I kept walking without wanting to stop and _think_.

It was in one of these snowy places when I guess my body finally snapped and I collapsed in the icy white mantle unconscious. When I woke up, I was in a small wooden hut covered in furs. An old lady was by my side talking to me in a language I didn't understand and touching me with her bony hands to make sure I was well. Apparently the townspeople had found me lying in the snow and had helped me.

Now, looking back, I thank that encounter as nothing in my life, because if it had not been for them I am sure that I would have died frozen right there.

They took me out of the trance I was in, they gave civilization back to me and slowly I came back to my senses. It was a small town, ten or fifteen huts, between high mountains and with a small port for the sea. Even so, it was totally different from ours. It took me a long time to get used to the life there but little by little I learned their customs and their language.

Everything was full of magic for them. They prayed to different gods that controlled the thunder, and to women soldiers who rode on horses with braided hair. They taught their children from childhood to fight, whether they were men or women and they sailed the frozen ocean on ships with twisted bows in the air. The woman told me that they called themselves 'vikings', I do not know what it means and when I asked people they were just smiling at me and pointing out the sea.

However the most surprising thing about those people was what they call "the gift". According to their religion each person had a power or a skill delivered by the gods that distinguished them from the rest. There were people who could lift stones bigger than a house as if they weighed nothing, there were people who played with the fire or who turned into animals and played with the air.

According to them, when a human being reached perfection in the handlings of his gift, they became gods and thus could live forever, being able to do great things. Although nobody did it most of the time. The woman who took care of me and who was the healer of the town however encouraged me to learn to use my skills and took me to a class with the children in which I was taught to develop my powers.

It was depressing at first. That a five-year-old child can do something that you, an adult can't, can do horrible things to your pride. But in the end I got it. It was one day while I was in the house with the old woman practicing one of the exercises she had taught me. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, concentrated, and suddenly one of the pans in which I was preparing the food flew off and hit me hard on the head. When I woke up after being knocked unconscious by the blow, the woman was excited and forced me to repeat the exercise until we understood what had happened.

I can control metal.

I can attract, bend, shape, defend and attack with him. It was complicated at first and I ended up doing more damage to myself than an enemy half the time, but I ended up dominating it until it became normal in my life. The people of the town were surprised to see how fast I was learning, but it fascinated me and I loved it.

Finally came the winter solstice came, the longest night of the year, and a party was celebrated for it. In this celebration a combat was made to entertain the gods, between the two people of the village who had developed their skills to its fullest. They chose me to participate. I faced a young girl who controlled the water and swirled it around her body like a cloak. Suddenly the water hardened and sharpened into ice crystals and suddenly it heated up, burning your skin. It was a complicated fight but I ended up winning.

It was at that moment, when the woman fell at my feet unconscious in front of all those people, when I realized that I had to go. That I was ready to come back and face Doflamingo again. At that moment I knew what I had to do.

I left that town the next morning. People said goodbye to me as if they were never going to see me again, and I really think that's the case, since I don't think I would ever find the little town again. It was a coincidence, one of those that only happen once in a lifetime. Then I headed south, to the warm, dry land where I had been raised.

Until I get to Rome.

There, I looked for Killer, a friend from when I was little, who had moved back and forth with his family of merchants until finally settling in Rome. I have to say that without him all this could have not been possible. He welcomed me into his house like a brother he thought was dead, and, as one of the most influential people in the capital thanks to his position in the army and his family's money, he allowed me to go with him to meetings and acts of high society.

I started to gain influence. I guess because it was the novelty there and a man banished from his own country. I informed myself in those meetings of how the city worked. To sum it up, at the end, the generals, moved by my story and with the help of Killer, offered me a position in the army, and that was just the opportunity I had been waiting for.

The Roman army unlike ours -who is based on the family position and money- is based on power. The strongest and smarter who manages to beat the rest without being killed in the attempt is the one who commands. And I, with the new power I had acquired, and with my old Greek military training, managed to become a commander in less than a month. It was complicated to say the truth, I had expected it to be more difficult, the Romans are very friendly with poisons, stabbings in the back and cheap and unlawful tricks after all, but I managed it quite easily.

And the truth is that I would have stopped there. I had the military power to return for Law, I had a slight influence, money and everything that I had gone to look for in Rome. But a revolt occurred. The emperor had died at the hands of his son and the city erupted in conflict divided between the followers of the son and those who opposed being governed by such a man. I, as commander of the army, had to intervene. With a few men we entered the streets and restored order more or less. Then I brought the two fractions together in an assembly and forced them to discuss the problem in a civilized way as their law dictated.

They decided to organize a vote to elect the new emperor, democratically, as it was done in Greece. It was voted, the votes were counted and the one that received the most was the new emperor. It could be anyone from the peasant to the son of the previous emperor. Although only those in the assembly voted.

Curiously, I was elected.

And the rest is as usual. I arrived at the palace, the people adored me, they crowned me, I saw myself with other kings of the Mediterranean to sign alliances between countries and to consolidate my position, and finally I returned here to finish with the matter that mattered the most"

Marco stood for a moment in silence, assimilating the information and drinking slightly from the pitcher in front of him.

Something didn't quite fit. Kidd had been very lucky to find the exact town where they taught that magic, or to be there when the revolt broke out, or just to survive so many things. They were too many coincidences, as if it had been planned. As if someone wanted him to rescue Law.

Still, Marco did not say anything.

"And Doflamingo?" he asked tensed "What have you done him?"

"Ah yes" Kidd continued, his drink now empty "I went to see him last night, I told him that I would declare war on Greece together with Persia if he didn't give Law back to me" he commented with a laugh.

Marco blinked "What? You are going to fight against Greece? Against us?" Would Kidd betray his friends and his own homeland for one person? Would he be able to do that? Would they kill them for Law?

Kidd looked at him with a serious look that made the blonde tremble slightly. Focusing and _really_ looking at him, Kidd did look like an emperor, tall, imposing, strong, maybe Kidd had learned more in those years than he thought.

"If it's necessary I will" he sentenced "but I hope it doesn't have to come to that extents"

"What do you mean?" Marco asked frowning.

Kidd sighed gravely and Marco knew that this was the reason he had come seen him today.

"Marco, I know that Doflamingo won't return Law to me. Not until it is between the sword and the wall would he yield" Kidd looked at him expectantly.

Marco drank from his glass feeling overwhelmed. He knew that if he refused to do something, he would lose this friendship forever. He knew that if he accepted however he would be betraying this country.

Kidd had always been a synonym of problems. Why did he always end up in the deepest shit? Why couldn't he have normal problem? No, he had to throw down empires. But this time however, Marco was prepared, he would not fall under his pleas and excuses, this time he would say no, and wash his hands of the matter. He could not fall, he had Ace and a life in this land, he could not...

"What do you need?" He said at last.

Stupid fucking friendship. Kidd smiled and Marco felt an old warm return to his chest. Kidd had been his brother long ago.

"Well, I want you, Ace, Luffy and all the generals who are willing, to betray Doflamingo and align with me" he explained with gratitude on his eyes.

Marco opened his eyes surprised, but of course it was Kidd, he would want him to betray everything for him. His career, his country, his family, everything. To help him. He was demanding _all_ his confidence. If that went wrong, Marco could lose everything.

It was too much, to much cost for too little reward. Nobody would do that. To many lives could end only to save one person from the hands of a god.

"Kidd, I do not think it's necessary, with Persia and your army, already …" he tried to explain.

"No" Kidd interrupted "I don't want to give him even the slightest chance, I want him to not even think about refusing, if two empires attack him and his own soldiers betray him he can only surrender"

"Kidd, it's just a city, two armies will be enough to …"

"Marco, he would kill him," the redhead shouted desperately. "I know he would kill Law before turning him in. He would blackmail us back with his life, I know, I've seen how it is. And I won't allow it. I want him to know that the only way to get rid of us all, the only way to get out of the damn situation alive is by handing Law to me alive"

Marco was silent. Kidd was right and he knew it. Doflamingo would not hand over the boy unless he had no other choice, unless he could save his life in return. They had to bet everything against him, they had to end the dictatorship and the control in the shadows.

It had to end.

"Okay, me and my unit will support you. Although I can not tell you the same about the rest, I will talk to them but the final decision is theirs"

Kidd smiled broadly, patting him on the back.

"Thank you, you're are the best"

"I know, and you do not know how much I hate myself for it"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You don't have any idea how much I hate this chapter. If I could, I would erase it and write it all again, with no vikings and a more historical accurate Rome. But since I have convinces myself to make as good a translations as I can without changing to much, you have to stuck with this. 
> 
> Just so you know, the son stabbing his father in Rome, is a reference to Cesar, an historical figure who lived on a completely different time than the Greek empire. As the vikings, and as the Persian. I mixed cultures and I am sorry, I was young. If you are studding history or doing anything relating to history, I AM DEEPLY SORRY. 
> 
> Apart from that, thanks for reading and commenting, love you guys.


	20. Confrontation

~ Two Days After ~

It was already twelve o'clock on the damn morning and Doflamingo was sitting on the damned golden throne with impressive inlays and engravings, drumming impatiently with his fingers on the armrest. They were late. And not ten minutes or a half hour late like normal people, no, four fucking hours late. Who did they think they were to make him wait? Him, the damned god of the city?

He watched the two people beside him.

Vergo to his right swayed the weight of his body from one foot to the other clearly tired from standing for so long without doing anything, but also without complaining in the least. The truth was that Doflamingo had never understood the appreciation and loyalty that had that man for him, from the first moment he had entered the temple, he had followed him like a faithful dog and had never questioned anything he did. It bothered him. That someone supported him at all times, even if he was destroying people's lives and making them suffer, didn’t speak very well in their favor. But he was not going to complain. Deep down Vergo was a good subordinate and Doflamingo knew that he could trust him without any problem.

To his left Robin nodded slightly with a glassy look on her eyes. She was the oracle of the temple, for which the temple was famous. She was the one the gods talked thought and the one people from all over the world came to knew their the future.

Seen that way it seemed something really magical and beautiful.

What people didn’t knew however was that their predictions only appeared when she went into a trance after being drugged by force with powerful hallucinogens that left her half dead. The woman had also been quite difficult to tame, like Law, the fights and attempts of escape had been several in the early years, he still remembered how she had kicked and pleaded through tears to not be drugged again. It had really been pathetic. But in the end she had fallen like the rest of them, a few lies around here, a few other threats over there, and in the end he had her eating out of his hand.

But what worried him now was not them. What worried him now was the door that was still closed in front of him. They were in the audience chamber, the imposing and bright room built for the sole purpose of discouraging the visitors who dared arrive. A room in which they should have started a meeting of war four hours ago.

“What happen? Why are they taking so long?” he asked Vergo in a tense and clearly very angry tone.

“I don’t know sir” he answered “the messenger made it very clear yesterday that they would arrive at dawn, maybe something has happened” he answered knowing exactly the same as the blond of the subject.

Doflamingo clicked his tongue and frowned even more annoyed. They were doing it on purpose, it was clear. "This is bullshit," he said, getting up ready to leave. He was not going to waste a second more of his time.

And just when he was getting up from the seat, a click announced that the door was opening.  _ What a coincidence _ . The blond sat back annoyed as he squeezed the armrest between his hands fed up with everything.

Voices flooded the room amid witty comments and laughs, as if they were a group of old friends and not a gang of men about to declare war. Doflamingo recognized some of them slightly surprised. The generals of the city, Monkey D Luffy, Portgas D Ace, Bartolomeo... and at the head of the group, the two men Doflamingo right now feared the most: Kidd, Emperor of the Roman empire, and Darius the Persian king.

The first one was wearing the clothes with which Doflamingo had seen him the other day, only that without the cloak that had covered him the other night, leaving the golden armor shining imposing in the morning light as well as the sword that he wore at his belt and his bloody red hair for everyone to see.

The second man, on the other hand, was a less ostentatious as expected of someone his age. Darius was a man who should have been around his sixties as the white hairs in his hair or the dark wrinkles around his eyes announced. Even so, he was a tall, rather a stout man, which made him look even harder and more intimidating. He wore one of the characteristic dark and long Persian jackets with elaborate gold patterns decorating them and a tall, narrow neck. Trousers and heavy boots completed the set with the curved saber.

Dario was the one who worried him the most at that moment. Doflamingo already knew Kidd and knew how to dance with him or how to provoke him to do something specific, but Darío instead would be the one who played with him. He knew that the man was intelligent and strong, had been watching him for many years and knew what he was capable of. After all, the Persian Empire had not survived all those years and had become a world threat by chance. According to his last talk with Kidd, he didn’t know the twisted truth Doflamingo was hiding.

Both men stopped in front of him without giving him the slightest sign of respect, reverence, or greeting. The tense silence returned to settle in the room while one side faced the other with murderous eyes.

“I'm sorry, I oversleep” Kidd commented with a mocking smile on his face looking at Doflamingo.

Doflamingo heard a snap as his hand broke the heavy gold chair by the force with which he was squeezing it. God, what would he pay to see the redhead dead. However, although his eyes were piercing the boy, his mouth sketched in a crooked smile.

"It’s alright" he answered politely.

Kidd smiled at him more and more amused with all that.

“I hope you have thought about my proposal” the redhead commented then “... and that you have reached a reasonable decision” he insinuated with a slight hint.

Doflamingo wanted to laugh at the man and how predictable he was, but instead just leaned a little more in the seat and rested his face on the back of his hand forcing himself to relax.

“Maybe”

"And?" Kidd answered suddenly taking a serious tone and leaving the playfulness and mocking.

Doflamingo leaned forward then with the smile still present in his mouth, his elbows resting on his knees and crossed the fingers of his hands in a conspiratorial way. This was going to be fun. "I will not give him to you," he sentenced convinced.

The silence spread again as the words cut through the redhead. Doflamingo then expect a reaction, the anger and cries, however, to his surprise, Kidd didn’t do as he expected. Kidd just burst out laughing making the rest of the crowd tensed at the shrill laughter. Doflamingo raised a curious and increasingly annoying eyebrow, without fully understanding what was going on in the man's head. He thought he knew how to manipulate him, the last time he had managed to manipulate him, but now he was becoming less convinced every time that he could do it.

“I thought so” Kidd said then stopped laughing suddenly but still smiling “that's why I'd like to introduce you to some of my friends”

He gestured to the group behind him, encouraging them to come closer.

“You already know these six, they are three of your generals together with their subgeneral” he indicated pointing to them with a gesture “and they just betrayed you to support me”

Then he grabbed a man dressed in animal skins, leather and dark cloaks that curiously gave off a look of elegance and delicacy. He had long silver-blonde hair and curious marks on his forehead that reached to his eyebrows. Doflamingo was sure that he had never seen the man, indeed, from his appearance he would say that he was not even from Greece.

“This is Hawkins, head of a group of barbarians from the north who has decided to help me in exchange for letting him plunder your temple to the ground just as you plundered his” He commented with a bored face. Doflamingo looked at the man who was looking back at him with eyes that suggested he wanted to open a hole in his chest.

Yes, he had fought many enemies, and although he didn’t remember even half of them, Doflamingo, he perfectly identified this man.

“And finally, although I guess you already know, I present you the current regent of Persia, Darius III and a great friend of mine who has been interested in a story I told him about you” he said conspiratorially.

And it was only then, with that last comment, that Doflamingo paled slightly. Shit, so Darius knew it. He had to put an end to that farce, cut them off without the slightest hesitation.

"And now that we know each other, let me repeat the question," continued Kidd, smiling, looking as he already had won the battle. "Will you return Law to me?"

Doflamingo looked at everyone with his eyes, in silence, with those purple eyes that made people fall on their knees unable even to breathe, pouring in them all the anger and displeasure that this situation provoked. 

Not even one of those men trembled, what’s more some of them returned challenging looks, especially the two generals that Doflamingo remembered had been Law's family. Those two dark ones seemed capable of pouncing on him and killing him with blows right there.

That made him smile and without being able to avoid it he began to laugh.

“Fufufu, let’s see if I have understood …” he began “you are going to betray your own country, fight against your friends, families and everything you know” he enumerated addressing the generals “...you are going to start a war against a country allied with you, the one you have always had good relations with...” this time he turned to Darío “... for something that you do not know if it's true or just a lie? for only one person?”

There was an exchange of uncomfortable glances, there were nervous movements, but in the end the only one answer that was heard.

“Yes”

Doflamingo burst into hysterical laughter as he leaned back against the throne seat and covered his eyes with his hand to try to contain the tears of laughter. God this had no price. It was too good. He had a bunch of idiots gathered in front of him. This would be as easy as taking a treat from a child.

So he laughed until, after a while, he managed to calm down enough to look at the group in front of him without bursting into laughter again.

Then, the fun part began.

“Fufufu, and tell me, heroes, has any of you ever wondered about what Law really wants?” their guests looked at him confused without understanding what he was referring to and he broadened his smile even more “Do you really think that Law is going to want to go back to a family that left him go years ago without any remorse?” he said looking at the two brothers “Do you think that, after so much time and after having lived so many things, he would still love you?” He murmured this time looking Kidd “Haven’t you thought that maybe here he is happy, and that he has everything that anyone could want?”

And as he finished his little speech he gloated at seeing the sudden face of doubt from most of them. The brothers D. had lowered their heads and looked at the ground with a pained and guilty face, now doubting that Law would continue loving them as brothers after what they had done. But the best part was Kidd's face that had suddenly lost color. Doflamingo wanted to laugh at him and his insecurities, he wanted to rub this victory in the face, but he only delighted on the slight trembling of his hands and his look of surprise. He had not really thought about this, and had taken Law for granted. Pathetic. Law deserved so much more.

"You had not thought about this, right?" He couldn’t help gloat, "after all, you only remember Law when it suits you, when you want to overthrow me or when you want to avenge yourself. You never think about what  _ he _ really wants, you just take the assumptions that suit you, and you feel proud of yourselves for coming here  _ after six years”  _ His purple eyes shone anxiously as he saw how, with each word, the group seemed to sink more and more. “You really disgust me” he ended with a grimace of disgust.

And there it was. The small group with its leaders defeated in an instant with a few simple words. It was always too much fun to take advantage of people's doubts and insecurities. It was always too easy. The two brothers were shaking in shame and humiliation, and even as a blond man and a green haired boy tried to comfort them, it was useless. Kidd was also trembling. And his face of surprise and despair was one Doflamingo would remember in his most pleasant dreams.

Those words destroyed their resolve them for a very simple and delicious reason: Because they were the truth. And that hurt more than any lie.

Although Doflamingo didn’t want them to succeed in the rescue, he was annoyed that they presented themselves right now. After six years. As if they had suddenly remembered that they had a brother or that they had had a young lover. Six damned years in which they had not been in any hurry to protest of fight him, six years in which they had not tried anything to recover him. And the worst of it all was that Doflamingo knew that Law would surely thanked them however, that he would overlook the years of abandonment and embrace them happier and more grateful than ever. God just thinking about it made his blood start to boil. Law did not deserve this people. Not at all.

He glared again at the group with his powerful eyes seeing how, this time, some of them shook or starting to gasp for air.  _ He was going to destroy them right there.  _ So they would realize the selfish garbage they were. However, before he could say anything, a calm but powerful voice that interrupted him.

"In that case bring us the boy and we'll ask him what he wants to do" Darío murmured looking at him with that calm air of his, with that serious and raspy voice that he didn’t admit disobedience “ Let’s ask him if he wants to stay with you or leave with us”

And with those simple words the group regained strength. And they began to raise the voices asking him to see Law.

Shit, he had forgotten that he had a _ real  _ king in front of him, one who had fought in thousands of battles and raised the spirits of thousands of soldiers. Someone who had ruled Persia as regent while the legitimate throne was still empty. He looked at Darius seriously and Darius returned an equally withering look, challenging him to deny him what he had lost.

By God, it was clear that he knew it.

That's why he wanted to see Law and had said what he had, not only to open the eyes of the others, but because he also needed to confirm it.

Doflamingo was then between the sword and the wall. If he refused to send for Law, it would be too obvious that he was hiding something and lying, and if he let them see him, it all would end there. Persia and Greece would go to war. He needed time to think. He could resort to the laws of the city, alleging that Law, by obligation, should stay on the temple even if he didn’t want to, he could resort to ...

The tired-looking old man continued to glare at him, with those gray eyes, almost begging him to let him see him, telling him without words that he would do  _ anything _ to see Law.

They were really alike. 

Doflamingo sighed. “Vergo, call Law”

 

...oOo…

 

Law had risen that morning alone between the sheets without Doflamingo at his side embracing him possessively. At first he hadn’t give much importance to the fact, after all, that happened many times, it was not usual but it was not something strange either. What did however make him frown, was not seeing Vergo with a table already prepared with food as he had always did every morning.

It was then that he realized that, for the first time in many months, he was alone. It frightened and pleased him at the same time. It scared him because Doflamingo had never let him roam freely around the temple since the "incident". And that could only mean two things: that he had grown tired of him or that something serious had happened. And Law did not know which was better, if he lost the affection of the only person he had left, or that something threatened his quiet life in the temple.

But on the other hand for the first time in a long time he could do what he wanted without the blonde knowing about it in the next minute. Slightly stunned by sleep, he stretched out on the blankets like a cat and left the soft heat of the bed. He prepared another chocolate quietly and bathed in the long pool enjoying that pathetic moment of happiness. He was not doing anything wrong or thinking about doing it, he did not want to upset the god who could come back at any moment. But he enjoy the bathroom like no one else had ever done it. Then he went out, dressed in the first thing he had found and sat next to the small fireplace with a thick book in his hands.

The blond had bought him in the first months he had been with him a huge collection of medicine books to try to earn his forgiveness for..what he had done. He had not succeeded, but Doflamingo had not taken them away either. The truth was that some of them were so rare and from so far away lands, that Law had ended up asking the violet-eyed god to translate them.

That had never ended well, because Doflamingo would then grab him, would sit him on his lap and while whispering the words of the book in his ear, his hands would run hot over his body never allowing them to finish the book, but do something more "fun" according to the blond.

But the book he had now in his hands was different, it was one of the Greek classics and one Law knew by heart. He began to read it with a hint of longing.

And it was then, when he was completely immersed in the reading, when Vergo reappeared, he tore him from his little corner between books and the heat of the fireplace, and dragged him at full speed and without a word, through corridors he had never walked, until they get to a small door hidden behind a wall. Then, he stopped and gave him a furious look. Law blinked in confusion without understanding all that haste and anger was for. What was happening?

“You better don’t disappoint us, especially after all the things we've done for you” and without further explanation, he opened the door and forced him to pass to the room behind.

Inside, he found a Doflamingo sitting with his back to him on a golden throne. Upon hearing them arrive, the blonde turned and asked him kindly with a huge smile to come to him. That scared him and put him on alert. Doflamingo never smiled, and less so, so ... amicably, even so, Law obeyed approaching him without any other option. He then noticed how huge the room was, with the high ceilings and the white stone columns between which hang tapestries with the god's symbol.

Then he also noticed, a few steps away from the god, the group of people in front of the blond.

He stopped suddenly unable to move forward as a slight tremor began to run through him. He held his breath and his eyes widened at the image. Luffy, Ace, Marco ...

And he opened them even more to two other people.

There he was. With that red hair, a color more intense than Law remembered but still messed, tempting him to put his hands between the flaming strands to taste the softness that had never disappointed him. And once he started, Law could not stop looking at him, he just swallowed him whole with an starved look. His height had increased as well as his musculature that now surely doubled in size, he had to feel so good to be embraced by those strong arms, snuggle to his side, rub against him in a sea of passion, as he had done years before, as he longed to do again.

They looked at each other for long, with an intensity that Law had not felt on his person for years and that made his pulse stop for a delicious moment. Once again he felt loved and wanted as the only thing worthy in the world of the redhead, he felt alive and needed again, he remembered again that it was worth living. 

Kidd was looking at him with that scarlet look, arrogant and sure of himself as he had always been. He made Law feel almost as if he was passionately caressing him with a mere glance, devouring him avidly and hungry with red eyes. But at the same time he looked tense, as a contained beast, as if he doubted Law, as if he feared he might flee again.

Law trembled, his skin bristling in response to the gaze of the other. Eager for the other’s exploring hands and mouth. He felt his blood burn with need simply by seeing Kidd there, in front of him, with such obvious desire to pounce on him.

He was alive, Law realized, breathing again.

_ Oh God, he was alive. _

I wanted to cry of happiness, to shout with thanks, to rush towards Kidd and hug him and kiss him like never before, touch him, feel him, make sure he was not dreaming and that this was real. That the other doubted his feelings seemed so ridiculous.

But then his attention settled on the other man, a dark-skinned, gray-eyed man with the poise and elegance typical of a king. His hair was beginning to turn white and his elegantly trimmed goatee gave him a hard and strict yet relaxed look. Someone dangerous and intelligent.

Law swallowed in surprise, when seeing him. The man was exactly like him. As one of his adult versions, with foreign clothes and possessing an empire. The man also looked at him with a face of astonishment and disbelief, as if he couldn’t believe what he saw. Law gave him a confused look and the man took a slow step toward him before whispering the words that froze the tattooed boy.

“Finally, after so many years I finally find you” he whispered with the broken voice of an elder “Law... son, oh merciful gods, come here boy, and let your father see you and embrace you after all these years”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take into account that I wrote this fic before the whole Dressrosa arc, I think even before punk hazard, so I didn't knew a lot about Law's past or his family. That's why Dario is who he is, he is a mix between an historical figure and Law himself. He is still awesome and one of my faves OC. 
> 
> Also, as Shakespeare said, “Doubt the the stars are fire; doubt that the sun doesn't move; doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love you all guys.”


	21. Decision

Silence filled the room as everyone tried to process what the gray-haired man had just said. Law in the arms of the old man opened his eyes surprised. His father? The biological one? That had to be a joke, he had always been alone, no one had ever sought him out, he had never remembered that time, he had not even bothered to do it since, why worry about someone who abandons you? for him his life had started with Garp and his two brothers. Nothing else.

But that man had just claimed him as his son, and from the tears he shed silently, or from the possessive way he held him, it was clear that he was serious about the statement, or that he believed it was true.

Although Law could swear he had never seen the man.

"Excuse me, sir, but I think you got the wrong person" He said, speaking for the first time since he had entered.

He watched Kidd, behind the man, close his eyes and tremble slightly when he heard him, as if his mere voice moved him. God, he could not take his eyes off him, fuck the old gray-haired man, he loved Kidd, he wanted to embrace him, not a man who now claimed to be his father after several years.

Unfortunately, not everything was so easy and the man squeezed him again in his arms not ready to let him go.

“No, it's you, you have the same smile of your mother and my same gray eyes, plus the tattoos ... no, there’s no mistake, it's you” the man commented again, stroking Law’s face with tenderness.

Law, struggling in the arms of the other, broke loose and separated from the man as politely as he could. After all, because of the clothes he wore, he seemed to be someone important. “Excuse me sir, but I have not seen you in my life, and I definitely do not remember you”

“Of course not” protested the other indignant “you were barely three years old when we lost you, I would really be surprised if you even remembered your mother's name”

Law narrowed his eyes annoyed at the comment. No, he hadn’t known his mother and he barely remembered her more than a blur of forms and murmur in his memory. And it was one of the things he always regretted and hated, not remembering, not really knowing who he was or where he belonged.

The man came back to him and held him by the shoulders. It was as if he did not want to let him go too far away, as if he were afraid of losing him again. Like Kidd had been. 

“But do not worry, everything will be fine now” he commented with a smile.

Law backed down. He did not understand. This morning he was nobody, he led an isolated life with the sole purpose of satisfying the needs of the god and without any concern over the future. This morning he had nothing. And now everything came back at once. Luffy and Ace who looked surprised and totally pleading for him to return, that man who had just proclaimed to be his father as if nothing, and finally Kidd, the man who just a few hours ago was dead along with his hopes and Law’s life.

“I do not understand” he murmured as he rested a hand on his forehead, it was beginning to get dizzy “I do not understand”

Darius was on Law instantly, helping him keep his balance with his arm around his shoulders, then leading him to where Doflamingo was and helping him sit in one of the chairs next to the god.

Doflamingo instantly took his hand and squeezed it hard. Although it was a hidden gesture, as if he was preventing the rest from noticing the show of affection. Especially his newly named father. The face of the god did not change in the least when he turned to look at him and he continued to maintain the boring and indifferent look, but Law could perfectly feel his huge hand squeezing his in a mute show of support and concern. Timidly, he squeezed it in response, although inside he would preferred Kidd doing it, not the blonde.

God, he had not even greeted him yet.

“I’ll try to explain myself” Darius began seeing his lost look “Law, when you were barely three years old...

... your mother and I received an invitation from some friends from a neighboring Greek city. They were important people and quite influential and therefore, as monarchs of Persia, we could not deny it, besides your mother and that lady were old friends and she was eager to see her old friend, and I couldn’t say no. Your mother could be very convincing in some ways.

You, of course, didn’t want to leave the palace, you had never go out and you were afraid to leave everything you knew, but we didn’t leave you another option. We were your parents and you had to start to understand what it was like to be royalty and the obligations that it entailed. We had already made you the tattoos that marked you as successor and, according to the law of our country, you were officially recognized as the legitimate heir, so you had to accompany us out of the country.

Nothing serious happened during the visit but the night before leaving, a skirmish broke out. A band of bandits came down from the mountains and, taking advantage of our visit, they looted and set fire to the town. We had to flee the place, however, when your mother went to look for your room, it was deserted. I guess you sneaked away as you always did in the palace, fleeing from classes and obligations to go snooping somewhere. We panicked. The bandits entered the house and we had to flee or be killed. We looked for you, I swear that we looked for you, but in the end we have no choice but to leave.

When we returned the following week with a support group, the city was devastated and not a single survivor was left. We keep looking, under any rock ... but we didn't find anything. In the end we gave up and were forced to return to the palace to fulfill our duties. Your mother's heart broke when she gave up, she quit her job, she stopped working, she stopped eating ... it killed me to see her like this, I tried to encourage her, I promised her I would find you, but it was not enough, she was getting thinner and kept calling you and begging to see you. In the end she died.

And the empire was divided.

I didn’t want to get married again, I didn’t want to forget about her or you. I spent years and years looking for you as I had promised, but I couldn’t find you. I thought of the worst, that I had lost you as well as her. It was difficult, especially with the nobles asking for an heir to the crown and putting pressure on me to get married again. The nobles were divided, many told me they would not support me again until I changed my mind and had another heir, there were attacks, assassination attempts or threats ...

... but now everything is fine” concluded the man “now you are and you will unite us together again”

Law blinked back tears as the blurry image of a woman with long dark hair and a bright smile crossed his mind. God, his mother had died because of him and he did not even remember her face, nor had he tried to remember her. It was too much. Too petty on his part.

“Law please come with us” Kidd finally spoke.

“Everything is fine now, we can take you out of here” continued Luffy smiling happily. He had grown so much.

"Law please," Kidd pleaded again, and it was clear from his gaze that his life depended on Law’s response.

Law stared at him, looking at him desperately. He wanted to run to him, hug him and take refuge in his arms, until he absorbed all that information, while Kidd kissed him again and made love to him. He wanted to go with his father, to show him his own country, his culture, his traditions, he wanted to make up for lost time- He wanted to go with Ace, with Luffy, go back to the beach and the secret cave. He wanted to do so many things.

But he couldn’t.

He was no longer what they believed him to be. He did not deserve them. He was dirty, marked, corrupted. He could not be a king, he could not be a brother and he definitely couldn’t be Kidd's lover. Kidd deserved something better, someone pure, clean and healthy, someone who would give him children and who could offer him the happiness he deserved.

Law could not be that person. He could not be with Kidd after all these years of abuse, the mere fact of being alone with Kidd, to sleep with Kidd made him tremble. What would Kidd think of him if he knew what the god had done to him? Would you continue accepting him? Would he forgive him for his betrayal? No, I couldn’t do that to him. Maybe Kidd would accept him and love him again, but Law would never forgive himself for falling and losing hope. Kidd needed a strong and secure woman by his side, not someone broken, used and without a will to live like him.

And the same was true for his father.

What would happen if the monarch found out all the shit that Doflamingo had done him? Would he still want him as the lost son he had loved so much?

No, he could not, it was too late, too late for everything, he could no longer be considered even human, he was worse than garbage, he was not worth fighting for, risking all their lives for someone who was corrupted. It was better for them to leave, to continue their lives as they have done up to now.

Let them forget him.

"Law?" Kidd spoke his name again with that innocent concern coloring his voice.

And he couldn’t stand this anymore.

It was too much. He did not deserve it. He could not be with him. His eyes moistened as he realized the situation and accepted it. God, he had to contain the tears, he was not going to cry. He blinked several times as the feeling of absolute loneliness seized him again. He suddenly got up from the chair and started to back away with a shake of his head.

“No, I will not go, I will not …”

The looks of confusion and disappointment appeared instantly as well as some slightly alarmed and surprised.

"Why not?" Kidd demanded, approaching him once he had processed the words and the surprise and betrayal disappeared from his eyes. "You don’t want to be here, we all know it, why don't you want to leave? It’s alright, nothing will happen to us, we can ..." the redhead began to announce with a reassuring voice, getting closer and closer.

Law panicked. No, he could not let Kidd touch him, he would dirty him, and hurting Kidd was something he would never do. He recoiled with panic on his face as the redhead approached.

“Kidd is right,” said his father approached him also with that smile of affection and happiness for having found him “everything will be, fine trust us”

Law then entered into an panic attack. His breath accelerated, his mind stopped working, pain bloomed on his chest. It was too much. It simply was too much. To see Kidd again, to find out who he was, to be asked to leave with them, offering him much more than freedom after so many years, the feeling of disgust for his person, to have them so close, the feeling that he had betrayed them... his breathing accelerated further as his eyes moved nervously from one side to the other.

"No!" He cried desperately. "No! I'm going to stay here, I will not leave, I'm going to stay” and without being able to stand all that pressure, he ran out inside the temple feeling his whole body threatening to fall apart in that same moment before the tremor that ran through him.

 

...oOo…

 

Doflamingo on his golden throne looked at the door where Law had just disappeared with a disbelieving face. In the sudden silence of the room he forced himself to breathe again and assimilate it all at once so that he could focus on the men who were trying to declare war to him.

But his mind just couldn’t just focus. Law had had before him the perfect opportunity to escape, the perfect future with everything that could be asked for, friends, family, lovers, and he had rejected it all.

Why? For an eternity in the temple as his whore? For him? Doflamingo swallowed without being able to find another reasonable explanation, with the hope lost long ago returning to resurge in his chest with force. Had Law rejected a throne, a family, and his lifelong lover for him? Really?

A wave of relief and pure happiness flooded him inside. Unable to avoid it, it erupted in a wave of unbelieving laughter but totally happiness. Kidd glared at him in the next second and approached him with large, menacing steps. Doflamingo did not care. He was still reveling in the new revelation.

God and to think that he had been worried for a moment, that for a moment he had thought that nothing could be done, that Law would leave him forever and that he would not feel him moaning desperately under him in bed, that he would never fuck again that soft brown ass... But as Law always did, he surprised him, he was always incredible. In a moment Doflamingo gave everything up for lost, he prepared to have his heart broken painfully, and then Law simply gave him that. An eternity with the brunette. Yes, he was simply amazing.

Kidd grabbed his shirt tightly and lifted him off the throne, bringing him close to his face with a look that could summon the god of the underworld.

"What did you do to him?" He screamed with anger in his red eyes.

Doflamingo looked at him with a smile of total delight. He could feel the redhead tremble with rage, restraining himself from pouncing on his jugular. Now it seemed a waste of time all the jealousy he had felt for this boy, the stupid sense of inferiority every time he saw him, the times he had wondered what the redhead had for Law to risk everything for him, but that he himself lacked.

He gloated for a moment.

"That's the best part," he whispered to the boy evilly, feeling their breaths mixing with the aggressive proximity, "I have not done nothing to him"

Kidd’s fist hit his cheek the next moment. The redhead looked at him with rage and murderous instinct on his eyes. "You lie!" He roared, threatening to hit him again.

Doflamingo laughed again, even though he felt the old taste of blood in his mouth.

"No, I don’t, he has chosen freely, how do you expect me to prepare anything with so little time?" he explain logically.

Kidd tensed his jaw and looked at him as one looked at a dead man who has only two seconds left to live. Doflamingo words had logic, what the blond said had a damn and perfect logic, but Kidd didn’t accept it. “I do not know how, but the fault of this is yours”

He raised a fist again.    


However, this time, unlike the previous one that had been by surprise, people were ready. Vergo stood in front of Doflamingo to receive the punch and even one of the redhead's own men, a masked man with blond hair, approached and tried to push the redhead away from him.

“Kidd, stop, this will not help, you need to relax and think”

“There's nothing to think about, I'm going to kill him and then take Law, it's that simple” 

"Fufufufu," laughed the blond on the throne as the blood fell from the corner of his mouth giving him an even more macabre look. "You are so depressing, you had come fully convinced that you would take him fufufufu. Where is your confidence now and your threats? Are you going to continue with the war despite the fact that  _ he _ has told you he does not want to leave?" The blonde couldn’t help but continue mocking.

"Shut up," shouted one of Law's brothers, a boy with a scar under his eye.

“Poor people, so many preparations and sacrifices for nothing” continued the blonde “Tell me how do you feel now that your own brother does not want to go home with you?”

"Shut up!" The two shouted this time.

Kidd, on the other hand, had let go of the blonde that had tried to hold him and now was pouncing on Vergo without thinking, only with the murderous instinct and the desire to shed the blood of the god.

“Fufufu And what are you going to do now? Go away and come back in another six years to see if he has changed his mind?" Doflamingo was having a great time with all that.

The room was a chaos in itself. The blond mocking without caring about anything, simply enjoying the feeling of having been chosen for once. Kidd fighting against the masked blonde, and against Vergo. Luffy and Ace also advancing while a green haired boy clutched his swords with his eyes fixed on the guards in the room. The screams, the blows, the deranged laughter, and in the middle of everything, with the calm and determined gaze, was an immobile Darius.

"Quiet!" He said in a voice so firm and powerful that the whole room stopped even though it was barely audible among the screams.

All eyes fixed instantly on the unpredictable man with graying hair that suddenly moved with a calm step to stand in front of the God. His face revealed nothing like his body language, not even the slightest tension or anger. As if he was immune to all that.

Doflamingo, sat back in the throne waiting for the man to move, fully alert. This one was the dangerous one. Darío returned an intense and meaningful look of wisdom of those who have ruled a kingdom for many years. His hands crossed behind him in a vulnerable pose, as if he wanted to reassure Doflamingo and tell him he was not going to do anything wrong. As if the god was the frightened little animal.

“You know that this does not change anything” his deep and penetrating voice rumbled in the room “We had not come here to ask the opinion of my son, but to blackmail you”

Doflamingo opened his eyes in surprise, straining instantly. That had no logic and he protest accordingly. “But…”

Darius frowned slightly at his interruption.

And Doflamingo for the first time in the meeting found himself sweating in fear. Maybe he did not look like he was angry, maybe the old man controlled every minimal emotion of his body just like Law did, but that simple gesture had alerted every little instinct that the blond had. Darius was more than pissed off. It was like a thick, bitter feeling that made him tremble from just intuiting it. As if the old man's body gave off a murderous instinct stronger than anything he had ever faced.

Then Doflamingo began to doubt. Could he really beat such a man? A man who, with only a slight frown, had made him tremble?

"Formally," the old man continued, "Persia and I suppose also Rome, declare war on Greece with all its consequences. I will wait for your letter with the location of the battlefield as well as the date and time” he sentenced.

Doflamingo could not help but nod as he saw how everything he had planned went to hell with those words. He watched Kidd smile at him, still imprisoned in the blond's arms with that arrogant smile and hate-filled look. And then he realized. They had come here for him, not for Greece or for a higher position on the scale of power, not even Law, most of them were here only for him. In revenge for everything, in revenge for what he have done.

“I'm not going to make it easy” he said to the dark-skinned man with gray hair who was beginning to move towards the exit followed by his loyal entourage.

The man turned to him and smiled at him with the same smile that Law had. The sideways and playful one that did not announce anything good. They looked so much alike it was like facing Law instead of the old man, as if it were an old and defiant Law he was talking to.

"Wars are never easy kid," he said contemptuously, "but I'll practice a little more to slit your throat if that's what you want."

He said that last sentence without restraint. No hiding his emotions. Letting him see all the hatred and rage in his eyes and in his voice. Making him feel so helpless and weak as if he really had pierced his throat and was facing death.

As a vision of the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Dofla is digging his own tomb. But well, we all knew he was a bit stupid in this fic. He is weird. I wanted to give him that double edge thing, so you don't know if he is good or bad, he cares for Law, he says some true things and defends him, but his way of loving it's just wrong. 
> 
>  
> 
> In any case, war is coming. I will probably finish translating this fic this week.


	22. Results

Doflamingo walked happily through the temple to his rooms. Although everything had gone to hell and he should be meeting with his allies and thinking about strategies, he could not help looking for Law. He had already searched half the temple and the only place left was his room. Law was in his room. God just thinking about it made his fingers tingle with emotion, he couldn’t wait to see him, to hug him and thank him for what he had done.

Because Law had chosen him over Kidd.

The emotion he felt at that made him want to jump around the damn room like a little boy in a candy store. He could not believe it. After all, after having lost hope, there Law was, waiting for him. He was going to fuck him right there, he was going to tie him to the bed and was not going to let him get out of it in a long time.

He entered the room and crossed it with two big steps. His eyes instantly fell on the figure huddled by the fireplace with a heavy book in his hands and his eyes lost in the ceiling of the room where the paintings and decorations convoluted in a strange pattern. The god flew literally to his side and his arms surrounded the boy from behind as his fingers sank into his soft black hair.

"Hi, Law," he said with a deep, soft voice against his ear, hiding the feeling of happiness that was bursting in his chest.

The boy tensed instantly and although Doflamingo attributed it to the surprise, before the blonde could even say anything, Law got up from the couch and faced him. It was then, when he had Law in front of him and could see the look on the other’s eyes, that he understood that he had misinterpreted the situation. 

Doflamingo tensed too and realized that this wasn’t going to be nice. The look that Law sent him indicated that instead of a good fuck and happiness, this was going to be a fight.

"You lied to me," the dark-haired man accused him.

Doflamingo observed his beautiful gray eyes, those in which he had lost himself so many times and that couldn't leave his mind for a second. He stared at them as he rethought the situation, as he began to understand the mess he was in.

"So what?" He responded defensively. "It didn’t look important when you used me later."

Law frowned.

“What? What are you talking about?” He asked with that adorable tone of confusion and surprise, as if he had not noticed anything.

Doflamingo paced around the chair where Law had been sitting until he faced him now without the chair in between. With his height and strength imposing. Intimidating him as he had always done. Reminding him what had happened in those six years and taking advantage of their situation. Trying to dominate him and remind him that he could do nothing against him.

“Just after I lied to you, when we went to the bed. You didn’t take long to forget about Kidd and begin to moan my name, remember?” He said with a bitter smile “Do you really consider me so imbecile? Do you really think I'm going to believe that  _ suddenly _ you feel something for me?”

Law opened his eyes surprised by the sudden accusation.

“No!... I was… affected, you had just told me that Kidd was dead, I didn’t hint at anything” Law faintly excused himself, and then as if remembering his main anger he frowned at him “I gave you everything, I trusted you, and it was all a stupid lie!” the brunette screamed at him.

“Fufufu” Donquixote began to laugh maniacally “Yes, you do really consider me an imbecile. But who cares. Because, when did you trust in me? Oh yes, after six fucking years! When I told you that Kidd's had fucking died! and then,  _ and only then _ , did you accept me” he said angrily.

Law gasped without understanding.

“What does it matter? You already had what you wanted. What did you care if I trusted you or not?” Law questioned without understanding.

"Don’t you understand?" Doflamingo shouted at him with a disbelieving face. "I'm not going to be anyone’s second option, Law."

He approached Law and placed a hand around the boy's neck. Without squeezing or hurting, but in a possessive and dominant gesture, letting him understand that this could turn complicated but that he was charitable enough not to do it. But Law had known the game for many years and knew how to keep up with it. Maybe at first it had worked and he had lowered his submissive head when he had felt the strong fingers around his neck, but now it wasn’t like that, now, apart from the fury he felt that made his blood boil, Law had something to fight for, something to raise his head and glare at the other.

Doflamingo opened his eyes surprised. 

After six damn years of total indifference, letting him do what he wanted without complaining in the least, there was what Doflamingo had been waiting for. The mask fell, the Law who showed emotions, who smiled again with that sarcastic smile or show that look that did not announce anything good, came back. But despite the happiness of having been able to affect him, this was not what he wanted. He did not want to see hatred and anger, he wanted to see him in love, his eyes shining with the same look with which he looked at Kidd.

It teared out his heart. Once again the redhead appeared and everything went to hell.

He watched Law again with that rebellious look of the first few months they'd been together. The last time he had seen it, Doflamingo had managed to tame him, but it had also broken Law and the boy had immersed himself the next few years in that death-like state. But there he was again, at the beginning, and this time Doflamingo would make sure not to break him, this time he would tame him and get Law to love him back.

He looked at the boy in front of him. Then, inclining, he kissed him. 

Law, of course, tried to resist and leaned back to avoid his mouth, but the blonde's hand on his neck kept him in place. Doflamingo smiled helplessly as he felt the other's teeth against his lips. God, he had missed so much how Law answered him. Without hesitation, he corresponded him in the same way, biting, and forcing him to open his mouth despite everything.

It was one of the most intense kisses they had shared. Law squeezing his wrist with his hands in an attempt to come free, and Doflamingo squeezing him without letting him go. Deeply eating each other and trying to win the other’s mouth by force. 

Doflamingo didn’t give Law the slightest chance, pressing the other against his body and taking advantage of his height and strength, he forced Law to be still and let him do what he wanted. He delighted in the taste of his mouth as he always did, licking the addictive taste of the other and exploring the familiar wetness of his mouth.

Law growled annoyed. Doflamingo again nibbled possessive at his lip.

Finally, they separated for a moment to recover the air. And although Law panted and had a look in his face of mixed hatred and despair, Doflamingo did not have the slightest pity for him. After all, Law had hurt him first, and the stings of pain still throbbed in his veins reminding him of the harsh reality. He outlined the other's neck still on his hand, feeling the warm and soft skin of the other, his pulse accelerating while the brunette tried to recover the breathing. 

Doflamingo then performed a slow lick from his collarbone to the boy's jaw. Slowly, without violence or a hint of anger but clearly promising him more, much more, reminding him who he belonged to and who he had always belonged to.

“Don't. Wait. This is not …” and for the first time in a long time, Doflamingo could catch the slightly confused and supplicating tone on the other.

His mouth watered. He loved having Law pleading him for something, and if it was in bed, it was a thousand times better, it was one of the most erotic things he had never had the pleasure of seeing, it made him want to torture him again and again. His mind then deviated from the motive of this all, from the rage and anger he had, and simply let himself be carried away by the other's warm body.

Crouching lightly, he grabbed the boy's thighs from behind and lifted them forcing him to jump and to surround his waist with his long legs. Doflamingo blinked a stunned for a moment. Why had Law so suddenly become docile? Weren’t they fighting? but the bite in his ear that made him let out a slight moan of pain, as well as the nails clinging insistently on his neck, gave him the answer.

Shit had lowered his guard for a moment and already he had wounds and scars from the battle.

Raising his hands slightly, he squeezed the boy's buttocks firmly between his hands, squeezing them possessively and pressing him even more against his body. Law whimpered slightly, half-strangled against his body, and the blond took advantage to devour his mouth again. 

He kept him that way for a moment, hanging in the air, holding him with his strength. He let him feel helpless and vulnerable against him, and finally, when they broke the kiss, Law didn’t try to bite or scratch him, he just laid his head against his shoulder and gasped heavily as the legs surrounding him seemed to tremble around him. The older loved those long, strong legs, especially when they surrounded him like that or when they tensed while he devoured the heat between them.

Holding the weight of the other with a firm hand on his butt, he moved the other along one of those legs squeezing firmly and feeling as it tensed under his touch. Delicious. He felt his erection grow as if by magic and pressed against the boy's own in his arms. 

A shiver ran through Law’s body.

Doflamingo began to walk around the room until he came to a small gilded chair covered in red velvet with drawings of leaves and animals on its surface. There were still centuries for the Baroque style to be installed in Europe but Doflamingo had managed to get a famous craftsman to make one. Without much delay, he seated the boy in the chair with a bang and knelt between his legs anxiously. Law sent him a look of deep hatred as he continued to pant and watched as the blonde took one of his legs and placed it on one shoulder.

“Doflamingo stop, I'm not in the mood for …” he could not even finish the sentence when the blonde literally tore apart the robe he wore and his skillful tongue ran around the inside of his thigh approaching his cock.

In an instinctive movement Law tried to reach the blond's head and tried to stop him with trembling hands. But the blonde had the advantage with that degrading position and came closer until he had the tip of Law’s erection a few millimeters from his mouth promising a pleasant torture. 

Law moaned embarrassed. 

He had never felt so exposed with the blond as now, normally they did it under the sheets, and it was he who had to place himself in that kneeling and submissive position, but lately the older one had taken the pleasure to be the one who sucked him. Although Law didn’t usually complained under the elder's expert and precise tonge, today felt different. 

They were in the middle of the room, in broad daylight and, with a leg on the elder's shoulder and with Doflamingo's height, it was as if Law were opening his legs for him. He did not like it. He was angry with the blonde as he had never been and knew that the other was also angry with him. That's why the vulnerable and offered pose was too much, it didn’t fit the situation, Law should be killing each other with blows, not opening his legs with his cock harder than it had been in a long time.

Doflamingo looked at him from his position and Law found himself avoiding his gaze. Too intense, too intimate.

"Look at me," the blond ordered.

“No” Law answered, panting but resisting.

The blond stopped holding himself back and licked Law’s member from the base to the tip, depositing a final kiss on the sensitive tip. Law groaned pissed, but strangely aroused.

"Look at me," Doflamingo ordered again.

Law turned his head to one side and closed his eyes tightly. Because he knew that if he continued like this he would end up looking and would regret it his whole life. 

He felt Doflamingo devoir his member with his mouth and suck at it with enthusiasm without the slightest care. 

Law helplessly arched clinging to the golden arms of the chair, trying not to slip and stay still, not rocking his hips against the blonde's mouth as he wanted to do. He was not going to let himself go, not this time.

But the blonde's mouth was so sweet, it was as if he wanted to swallow Law completely. Eat and devour him. As if Law was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted, and after years of abstinence he could finally eat him again. He treated him just like Kidd, carefully, delicately, and with an unhealthy obsession, but unlike Kidd, Law could feel the slight desperation and desire  Doflamingo had to possess and dominate him. 

Law hated being dominated.

The blonde licked him again in the most obscene way possible and Law found himself trembling on the verge of reaching orgasm with just two depressing licks. He let out a defeated and pitiful moan as he covered his eyes with one arm trying to protect himself from the situation. Doflamingo saw his gesture and immediately stopped what he was doing with a little reluctance. He really loved to lick him and observe the boy's reactions, it was something he had recently discovered and that he had become fond of. He watched the boy shiver in front of him as he covered his beautiful gray eyes and bit his lip trying to contain the erotic moans.

Without hesitation he rose slightly from the seat and approached the lips of the boy kissing them possessively without hesitating. Squeezing them between hid and feeling hot and wet from Law’s sighs. His hands traced the child's thighs again, feeling them shake violently as if the child was holding back from thrusting and rocking his hips. He smiled proudly despite the situation.

“Law, look at me” he repeated.

But the brunette only stirred under him trying to get away from him. Delicately, he raised a hand and pushed Law’s arm away from his eyes. Unfortunately, Law kept them closed.

"Law, please, look at me," he pleaded.

And then, the boy slowly opened his eyes and looked at him with that metallic look full of nervousness and despair.

Doflamingo smiled shyly and kissed his forehead protectively, he didn’t like to see the other so helpless, he liked the strong and dominant Law, surrendering before him at the end. 

He kissed him again, slowly, without taking his eyes from him. Law made a slight attempt to bite him again that Doflamingo dislodged instantly. 

Doflamingo suddenly turned serious as he positioned himself between the legs of the other and took his cheek again, pushing their mouths to tempting millimeters away.

"Law, I love you," he whispered weakly as he gently kissed his mouth, again and again.

He felt the other tense and did not know if it was because of his words or the fact that he had started unbuttoning his pants, but he didn’t care, he just wanted the other at his side. He needed to feel him against his body again, he needed to feel him again under him and remove that horrible feeling of having lost him forever. That the stupid happiness of these last three days had been all a stupid farce.

"I hate you," Law hissed, as the blond's hands stroked his entrance, as he brought their hips together and his hot cock to his trembling entrance.

Doflamingo stopped when he listened it and carefully watched the hatred in the other's eyes. 

God, he just wanted to scream and scream, he wanted to kill everyone who had came before him, he wanted to do magic, some magic that could erase that look from the other's eyes. But for the first time, he swallowed everything and faked a smile. Because deep down he understood it, because deep down he knew that he had gotten himself into this on his own, he knew that it was all his fault.

“I know” he said bending down and giving Law a chaste kiss on the forehead.

Then he entered inside him as so many times before. After so many years together, Law didn’t need any preparation and he swallowed him completely, squeezing him with gusto from the first moment, as if he had been waiting for him from the beginning. The boy let out a loud moan and stuck to his body, grabbing him by the shoulders. 

Doflamingo, still kneeling on the floor, began to fuck him. The chair where Law was sitting began to squeak against the marble floor, but Doflamingo grabbed the arms of the golden chair to keep it in place and continued with the powerful thrust. 

Law writhed under him, nailing his shoulders leaving the typical marks of a good sex session. Doflamingo realized then that the boy had closed his eyes again. He wanted to look at those silver eyes while Law writhe with pleasure and took his big cock to the base easily, as if he had been born for this.

Doflamingo stopped thinking, he didn’t want to think about anything, he just wanted to focus on the physical and nothing else, enjoy Law, and have him moaning under him. 

He pounded him in such a way that if he hadn’t gripped the seat, it would have slipped back several meters. 

He lowered one hand to the base of Law's back and pressed him against his body, fucking him more and more harder. Law quickly burst between them as he screamed with pleasure and tensed deliciously. Staining their clothes with warm cum and making everything even hotter and filthier. Doflamingo felt him arching his back against the seat, and leaning his head back against the headrest riding the waves of spasms and pleasure. 

But Doflamingo didn’t stop, he did not want to stop, he wanted to extend everything as much as he could.

Because it felt like this was the last time, because it felt like this was the farewell.

But no matter how much the blonde wanted to lengthen it, it could not last forever, and Doflamingo felt frustrated as the first waves of orgasm crossed his body. He kissed the panting lips of the other as he felt himself bursting inside the other over and over and over again.

They stayed like this for a while. Without separating, just panting and looking into each other's eyes for a while. Doflamingo with his violet and intimidating look and Law returning a look of pure hatred. No one was willing to move after that, it was as if the mere act of doing so could trigger a storm and could rush one into the other's throat.

"Why did you do it?" The blonde asked suddenly. "Why did you suddenly ask me not to leave you alone?" He needed to know, he needed to know if he had had the slightest chance. “Was it a lie? Revenge for killing Kidd? Or did you really meant it?”

Law did not look away as he answered, he stared at him so that the other would see that what he was going to say was true.

“It was true” he announced “At that moment I needed you ... but now it does not matter, everything was a lie after all. You only did it out of interest” and then he pushed the blonde slightly to get up from the eccentric chair.

Doflamingo did not even try to hold him back and, still kneeling, he observed the empty space Law had occupied. Law took the tunic that the blonde has teared and discarded it, then he went to the closet to get another. He didn’t seem to care about his legs dripping with the semen of the other, nor his chest covered with his own release, he just seemed to want to get out of there.

“It doesn't matter” Law repeated Law lowly, as for himself “I'll never believe or ask you for anything again”

Doflamingo then covered his eyes with his hand trying to hide his eyes. Because nothing had ever hurt him enough to want to cry, but at that moment he just wanted to scream and scream in like a little boy asking for his mother. Because, as always, with Law, everything had to go wrong.

Because deep down he knew that, at that moment, when Law had asked him to stay by his side, it had been real. He had needed him, and despite being Kidd's murderer, he had asked for Doflamingo. Although he might think he had been the second plate and a crude substitute for the redhead, it was clear that Law didn’t think so. It was right, Law had given him a chance, instead of hating him insulting him or despising him for killing the person he loved most, he had asked him to stay with him. Law had given him everything. And he had not even noticed.

He hates himself.

Because all this was basically his fault. Because even if Law had given him an opportunity, it had been false from the first moment. Because he had lied to him and Kidd had never been dead and therefore the opportunity did not have to have existed from the beginning. Now he knew that Law had not decided to stay in the temple for him, now he knew that he had another motive and it would probably have to do with the redhead. 

God, he had destroyed himself for lying to him. He had destroyed the least oportunity he had with Law out of selfishness. Why could he never accept the things he had? Why did he always have to be arrogant and ask for more and more?

He felt the hand that covered his eyes wet and he surprised himself crying. God, How long had he spend without crying? Decades? Centuries? Even when he had been human and had lived the worst of lives, he couldn't remembered crying. And yet here he was. Crying for a boy who barely reached thirty and he was foolishly in love with. Someone who, from the first moment, had not belonged to him and hated him.

He could not stop crying. Because he had lost him,and this time he knew it was forever.

...oOo...

Darius sat down in the dark bronze chair and looked at the generals sitting around the table studying them as he always did. They had just finished a council of war and now they were on a short break before the next one, although for many years the word "rest" had lost its meaning for him. He was always alert, analyzing the situation and looking for advantages and disadvantages to everything that happened around him. The generals were Law’s friends, his adopted "brothers" with whom Dario still refused to exchange a word, and Kidd’s second in command.

Kidd was luckily gone and Darius, in some way, accepted and understood. He had seen the way the redhead and his son looked at each other, as if they needed the other to breathe. He had never fully approved relationships between men as the Greeks so openly did. He had wanted to behead Kidd at first for thinking that way about his beloved son, but in the end he had to end up accepting it. More or less. The killer instinct was still there. But he had understood that Kidd adored Law, he had seen it in his eyes, it was the same look that some fanatics used to worship his god. And apparently the feeling was mutual, he remembered how his son's face had lit up when he had saw the redhead, or how he had been looking at him with his eyes every two seconds.

Kidd would not hurt Law and Law seemed happy with the redhead, so he supposed it was fine.

"What happens, his majesty?" Asked a dark-haired man with freckles who had presented himself as Law's brother, with conviction, as if he would fight anyone who disagreed.

“Nothing, child” he answered ignoring the tension between him and the two brothers “It's my hip you see... with age the body starts to crumble” he tried to change the subject.

He honestly didn’t know how to respond to the brothers, they were Law's other family, the ones who had seen him growing up and had helped his son become the man he was now. They were more his family than he was, and that made him uncomfortable. Law was his son, blood of his blood, he should have been the one who taught him everything, and the man he could go to when he had problems. He felt jealous of the brothers, and slightly angry for everything that was lost, but at the same time I was grateful that they had welcomed Law and made him happy.

"Then, you will go back to Persia?" Asked a blonde with a strange hairstyle, hugging the freckled boy by the shoulders.

Dario nodded.

“Yes, I will return and unite the army. Now that I have a heir the nobles will support us, I will come back here before the conflict breaks out, I promise” he said dedicating the two young men a smile.

“But that's not fair” commented the other brunette who, if he did not remember wrong, was called Luffy.

“Luffy is right," agreed another of the two peliverde of the meeting, one with long hair and teeth too sharp. Bartolomeo.

The other young man, a tall boy with three earrings in one ear, had only stood behind Luffy like a bodyguard all the time. He hadn’t opened his mouth throughout the meeting, and it was worrying Darío.

“Shouldn’t you stay here? You have finally seen Law after all, why go back so fast?” Luffy continued

“You're going to be fine without me, but I was supposed to be here only a few days at Kidd's request, nothing more” he tried to explain to them “I have to go back to Persia and explain the situation, it's my duty”

“But it's not fair” the younger brunette protested.

“I know”

“Law has finally found his father”

“i know” he repeated.

“You have to stay”

“I can not”

“Luffy stop bothering the king” his brother finally reproached him.

"Don’t talk to Luffy like that, sir, Luffy does everything for Law, it's true love between brothers" Bartolomeo said frowning, but looking at Luffy like a god.

“Don't get into this, Bartolomeo” Marco started. 

Soon they were all arguing again like an old big family. 

Darío laughed while watching them fight. It had been years since he had had such a relaxed meeting. They were all like a big family and supported each other, it was so different from the meetings he held in Persia with the nobles, where everyone tried to stick a dagger in his back when he was not looking. 

He was happy then, for the first time, that Law had grown up in this environment and not in the oppressive Persia. Maybe it would be better that, when they took him out of the temple, he could stay there instead of going back to him ... but then they would still have the problem of the heir and the kingdom would be divided again.

He needed to think and clear his mind. For the first time since he had arrived in the city he wanted to leave, go back his palace and lock himself in his library under the mountains of books. That would surely relax him and help him think of a solution as it always happened. 

His mind began to wander again. 

He swore that if all this ended well, he would take his son to the palace and teach him the pleasure of books, of spending hours among dusty stories. Surely Law would complain, the king thought smiling, all the young people hated to read and study, but if Law was really his son he would end up appreciating them as he had. And he would be the one to show it to him and see him learn. He would also teach him to swim in the warm waters of the Mediterranean, and fight with the light Persian sword that was handled with one hand and ...

He looked at the group of people around him who had started screaming like little children. They would definitely be fine. And he had to leave, he had a life to plan with his dear and only son.

...oOo ...

Kidd looked at the high wall that surrounded the temple in the cold weather of a winter night. Six years ago that same wall had seemed unshakeable. He remembered anxiously how he had tried to knock on the door trying to enter the temple and how he had left his knuckles bloody on it.

Six years ago this wall had taken away the person he had loved the most.

He rested a hand on the wall, feeling the rough stone surface beneath it. This morning he had managed to pass through this wall in a legal way, not sneaking up like other times, but entering with all the right. He had thought that he was already there, that he could have Law safe in his arms tonight, that he could kiss him again, touch him and make him happy as he deserved.

But again he was here, against a wall. Like a fucking idiot.

Law had told him he didn’t want to leave. He had preferred to stay in the temple than to go away with him. He hit the wall with fury. Why had he done it? Had he forgotten about him? No, he forced himself to think, Law still loved him, had seen his look when they had met, that of deep relief and happiness. Law loved him. Definitely. So why had he said no? Why was he still punishing himself?

He had to ask for an explanation, it was his duty to demand it.

He looked up frowning as he remembered the dark man's face before running out to hide in the temple, to hide away from him. He leaned one foot against the wall for support and jumped to the other side as if it was nothing. Unlike six years ago when he had had to use a grubby sticky tunnel forgotten many years ago, this time he entered without stupid plans, so easily that he wanted to laugh. 

When his feet landed on the soft grass on the other side, he instantly recognized the garden with the walkway of the other time, where the god had forced him to witness the greatest nightmare of his entire life.

Staying quietly he observed the small garden with hate.

"I knew you would come," a voice whispered behind him, warm and soft, like a summer breeze on a cold winter night.

Turning, he observed the boy with a dull and tired look who was sitting on the small staircase wrapped in a small blanket. There was an open book by his side and it seemed as if he had really been waiting for him for quite some time.

"Hello Kidd," Law greeted him with a bitter smile.

Kidd did not say anything. He did not run to hug him as he had dreamed other times, no, today time he held back. 

Because the image of Law running away from him with a face of panic was still engraved in his mind. And although he didn’t understand it and it hurt him that the brunette did not want him to touch him, he did not want to hurt him. He would never forgive himself if he did. He did not understand why Law was so afraid of him all of a sudden, amd although he had a slight suspicion that it was the god's fault, he didn’t want to frightening him again.

"Hello Law," he answered softly as he approached the brunette.

And in the silence of the night they both looked at each other in the same way as they had done six years ago before everything went to hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I'm going crazy with the updates, but this is a translation from an old story and I have the feeling it is taking me more time than it should to post this one. So I would finish it this week, prepare for the drama and the ending.


	23. For your Own Good

Law watched Kidd standing in front of him. Clearly, the redhead was trying to keep a slight distance from him as Kidd stood in the middle of the garden. He knew why Kidd was doing it, and he knew that he should thank him for giving him his space, but Law definitely wanted him by his side in spite of everything. Moving on the narrow staircase where he was sitting, Law patted the space beside him urging the other to sit there. He watched the older man hesitate for a moment, not quite convinced, but finally Kidd approached and sat down beside him as if that space on the stairs had belonged to him from the beginning.

Law sighed in the uncomfortable silence that settled instantly between them. Raising his head, he looked at the huge white moon in the dark sky. Kidd besides him crossed his fingers in his lap and leaned comfortably against the column behind him. Law tried to ignore the sudden need to lean against the warm body, to ask him to hug him in the freezing night and to just let go. Because he couldn’t, there was too much to talk about, there were too many problems between them that he needed to explain.

"You have changed," Kidd said then breaking the peaceful silence with it.

Law smiled slightly and covered himself even more with the heavy blanket in search of warmth and a little protection.

“Yes, you too” he replied turning to look at the red-eyed one “I did not know that you had become emperor ... but interestingly, he fits you well with the arrogant and selfish personality you have” he mocked trying to undo the tension between them and recover the casual tone with which they had always spoken.

Kidd however, say nothing. Law returned to look at the bright moon worried.

He remembered how Kidd had upset him at the beginning when he hadn’t know him. He also remembered how he had missed him in those six years. However, unlike six years ago where Kidd would have responded to his sweet comment with another even worst about the best way to fuck him, now he had remained silent. A silence that grew longer and longer and showed that Kidd had not only grown, but had also matured. Even so, Law refused to turn his head again and look at the face of worry that the other would surely have on that face Law had been longing to see for so long.

That's why he didn’t see Kidd moving slowly, and it was not until Kidd rested his forehead against his shoulder that he realized that the other leaning against him. It was not even a skin-to-skin contact, not even a touch, but Law found himself sighing, content to feel the heat of the other against his body again. Law said nothing. He continued unmoving in the silence that covered the world, and let the redhead do it what he wanted.

"Law," the redhead began with a voice so low that the brunette had a hard time listening to him. Even so, what he did feel in his own skin was how the redhead spelled his name, as if he was savoring it with a dark pleasure "Are you treated well here? Are you happy?"

Law ducked his head and closed his eyes thanking that the redhead couldn’t see his face.

Of course he wasn’t! He was the whore of a god, and his status was the lowest in the damn temple. Although no one approached him in fear of Doflamingo, he still felt the hateful looks of the rest, or the whispers and degrading chuckles. But the worst past had always been Doflamingo himself, he did with him what he wanted and Law couldn’t complain thanks to the promise he had made years ago. Doflamingo had taken everything from him and was still taking it away, he had broken again and again and he was still bound in those fine threads from the first time. Law wanted to laugh sarcastically remembering it.  _ Of course he was not happy _ . He was locked in a cage, away from everything he loved and wanted.

But he couldn’t say that to Kidd.

He could still do something with his miserable life and help this wonderful man. He could still save him. And to do that he had to make him to leave this garden convinced that he wasn’t leaving anything behind, he had to make him hate him if it was necessary, that way Kidd would leave forever and redo his life with someone who made him happy. He had to convince the redhead that he didn’t feel anything for him anymore.

He opened his mouth to murmur the beginning of the farce, but the lump in his throat that had formed by having to lie to him and hurt him made his voice tremble.

“Yes, I’m happy” he answered after the long pause. He felt Kidd instantly tense up behind him and pull away from him leaving him empty.

“Why do you lie to me?”

Law startled by the direct question and the fact that the other had realized it so quickly, but in an instantly he recomposed himself. He had to do this, there was no other option. Putting on the old mask and feigning a happy smile, he turned to face Kidd.

“I’m not…”

And the mask burst into pieces as he found himself suddenly under the scrutiny of the other's scarlet eyes a mere inch from his face. So close that he felt their breaths mixing. His words melted in his mouth and his mind went blank forgetting the plan and strategy instantly. Kidd however not only stood there and came closer to his face even more. Until their mouths brushed, causing electric shocks to rock Law’s body. Until their noses rubbed affectionately and the world seemed to stop.

Law found himself instantly opening his mouth for the kiss, panting heavily in the presence of the other. He was so close. After so much time.

“-Law, tell me, look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t love me, I dare you” he muttered against his mouth “If you do, I promise I'll go and leave you in peace forever"

The words purred against Law's soft lips despite being uttered in a whisper. Law spun them around in his head until he realized that this was his chance, what he had been asking for. They were only three words, nothing complicated, he could do it.

He looked Kidd in the eyes, those red eyes that despite the years continued to observe him with the same warmth and appreciation as the first day, as if Law was the only thing that gave meaning to his life. He watched those strange eyes the color of blood that had fascinated him from the first moment and opened his mouth.

"I ..." the words simply didn’t come out, the lump in his throat was cutting the air each time more oppressively. He tried again “I …”

He began to panic. No, he had to do it! for Kidd! for the person he loved the most in the world. 

But for Kidd that seemed to be enough and he separated from him looking at him angrily. Law looked on the verge of tears, as if he couldn’t believe that he really did love him. That angered the redhead even more.

“Why did you choose to stay here? Why don't you want us to help you and get you out of here?" He said with a harsher tone.

“No, I …” but Kidd cut him off before he started the farce.

He grabbed Law and turned him until he knelt in the circle of his legs with his wrist in his hands. Law ducked his head so he couldn’t look into his eyes, as if he really regretted what he was doing, he squeezed his hands in two tense fists between Kidd’s ones.

"Why do you lie to me?" Kidd said protesting "Why are you doing this?"

Law raised his head and looked at him. Serious. With a pinch of anger and the fury that the redhead remembered suddenly shining in his eyes. Kidd knew that the next thing he would say would be true.

“Because it’s the best” sentenced the gray-eyed boy.

“... The best for whom?” Kidd asked looking down at him without understanding but also having a hunch. Because this had happened before when Law had decided to enter the temple without even saying goodbye.

“For you”

Kidd had the confirmation.

Kidd wanted to get up and break something. The blood boiled in his veins. But he would not lose his nerve in front of Law, he would never do anything that could hurt him. And lately, when he let himself be carried away by rage, everything around him was massacred by his ridiculously strong power. He would not hurt Law. Never. So he got up and walked into the center of the garden taking several deep breaths trying to make the cold night air calm his burning head. It didn’t work, and if I couldn’t release the rage with brute force he would have to do it in another way.

"What do you know what's best for me?!" He yelled at Law. He didn’t care if they were discovered. If someone came in, he would gut them right there, period. He needed to talk to Law. He needed to get that stupid idea out of his head.

“Kidd” Law tried to explain, also getting up and letting the blanket that covered him fall with the movement.

Kidd, without a second thought, turned his eyes away from Law’s tempting body barely covered with a fine white suit that left nothing to the imagination. No wonder he was cold. No wonder the god would not let him get away. Although Kidd was going to kill him slowly for making Law wear such transparent and provocative clothes that made it almost impossible to look away from his perfectly body. Still, this was not the time to admire the other, at that time, now they were arguing.

“Kidd,”said Law approaching him “Please, I'm serious. Go away. I'm not the person you need, go back to Rome and find someone who makes you happy, someone better than me. Just forget about me for once”

"No," the redhead roared, refusing.

Turning, gripping the smallest’s shoulders with a quick movement, he held him firmly in front of him and looked him in the face, seriously. He looked into those hypnotizing gray eyes that populated every dream he had.

"I need you, Law," he explained. "Don’t you understand? I do not want anyone else, only you ... By God, I've even become an emperor for you” and then, raising a hand, he stroked the brunette's cheek with his knuckles. So softy, so delicately and tenderly that Law could only lower his head before so much affection and tremble slightly not being able to accept it “Come with me, let me be the one who carries the problems for once, let me make you happy”

Law closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to control the swirl of emotions inside him. Kidd was just amazing. He was the best. For the second time, he wanted to listen to him and put an end to all this. He wanted to approach the other more, lie his face against his hand, and his body against his huge chest. But after what had happened last time when he had agreed to leave with him, he couldn’t, not again. He just was not going to get carried away like the last time.

"You do not know what you're saying," he replied in a voice that was too harsh, too cold and dry for the tender situation. Instantly he felt the other withdraw his hand from his cheek, and Law opened his eyes as he backed away from KIdd both, physically and mentally.

“Yes, I know...” Kidd tried to counter-argue instantly, without wanting Law to move away from him in the least.

"No, you do not know!" Law yelled, raising his voice for the first time.

Kidd instantly opened his eyes in surprise and remained motionless like a dog ready to run. Law ignored it. Because he was angry with him. Because Kidd had come here asking for everything, demanding everything without knowing absolutely anything, without understanding anything, ruining his life when he was giving him the opportunity to be happy. Kidd didn’t know about the rapes, about the humiliations, about how dirty and low he had fallen. And he was asking her to become his lover? The lover of an emperor?

He wanted to explain it to him. He wanted to scream at him and the other to realize the problem. How fucked he was. He wanted Kidd to hate him, leave, and re-start his life. But he couldn't. Deep down he didn’t want Kidd to hate him, he would not stand it. Kidd was the only thing he couldn’t lose. It was better if Kidd left without knowing anything about it. By his own will.

"Get out of here, Kidd," he said again, his voice calm but still hard and cold. He lifted a hand and rubbed his eyes trying to calm the throbbing headache behind them.

And before waiting for Kidd’s answer, he turned around and started walking towards the marble walkway. He didn’t care what the other thought or what he yelled. He had gone there with the intention of making the other reason, of convincing him that he did not want to leave and that he wanted to stay in the temple. But everything had gone to hell and he had understood that it would be impossible to reason the redhead.

However, before he could disappear into the depths of the temple again, Kidd ran after him and grabbed him by the wrist, stopping him. Law wanted to turn around and yell at how imbecile he was but he could only do the first thing. When he returned, it was to observe the emperor, not the stunned teenager he had known and who had chased him like a lapdog for a few weeks, but the man who had risen to power and who controlled armies without even wavering.

Law held his breath with his attention suddenly fully focused on him. Fuck, he was hot.

“I'm going to get you out of here, Law” Kidd said, and it sounded more like a promise than a fact “I'm going to go to war, I'm going to win, and I'll free you from the temple, whether you want it or not”

Law, after the initial surprise and despite feeling slightly intimidated, quickly tried to answer the other angrily. Nobody talked to him like that or threw his opinion away. He decided his own life! Not even Kidd had that privilege. But when he opened his mouth, he found the other's mouth suddenly against his.

Surprised he opened his eyes while the other took absolute control of his mouth. This was what he had been waiting for years, the other's lips on his, his scent surrounding him and his tongue marking him his property without a hint of remorse. But unlike in his fantasies, he did not like it today. He wanted to bite him, to separate and continue arguing the problem, convince him that the war was stupid, that he did not kill himself for something that was not worth it. He tried to resist the kiss, face the Emperor and to expel him from his mouth with the force of his teeth.

But Kidd had taken control of the situation from the beginning and nibbled at his lips as their tongues tangled with each other, stealing the air in an intoxicating way. Law, without strength and no real desire to fight him, began to let go and began to respond and to caress that delicious tongue that explored every corner of his mouth causing him to gasp with little tremors of pleasure. Slowly he began to enjoy the possessive kiss and to surrender to the older man praying internally for the kiss to never stop.

Closing his eyes, he raised himself to save the height difference, and raised a hand to cradle one of those pale cheeks, focusing totally on the kiss. In their tongues dancing, in their breath mixing while they eat each other. While, Kidd ran his hand around his waist and pressed against his body as possessive as ever, clutching him, caging him in his arms as if he did not think of letting him go. Letting Law feel his hard erection against his thigh despite the tense situation. Feeling at the same time his own one pressing against the thigh of the redhead in need. It was a reunion, another of those fun duels between sighs, desire after years and a realization that nothing had changed in the least. It was hard, intense, possessive... and just wonderful.

Finally they broke the kiss and in the twilight of the night they looked at each other again. Kidd smiling as arrogantly as ever, and Law as airless and as pissed off as in the first kiss they had shared. The brunette wanted to kick him again in the crotch as he deserved, but unfortunately being swallowed in Kidd's arms took away all mobility. He tried to talk then, to insult him and remind him of his lack of intelligence, but again Kidd’s mouth felt against his in a fleeting kiss.

He growled in annoyance at himself for being incapable of doing anything other than waiting for the other to devour him. Kidd just laughed amused, squeezing and torturing him even more.

However, Kidd couldn’t stay there no matter how much he just wanted to push Law down on the floor and soothe the heat that burned under his skin and left him hot with need. It was time to leave. Now. Placing an imperial serious and intimidating face, KIdd bent down and hid his face in the other's neck. He had promised it. He was going to get him out of there, either if he wanted or not. For his own good.

"Goodbye Law," he whispered against the caramelized skin, "I’ll see you in two days. Next time I promise to end this," he said playfully, squeezing Law’s needed crotch and giving him a strong bite on the sensitive skin of the neck. Where Law was weak.

Then he walked away from the tantalizing temptation turning around to the high wall. With the arrogant smile illuminated by the moon and in his head still vibrating with the erotic moan that he had managed to rip the proud boy with that last time, he escaped the temple.

...oOo...

Two days later.

The blond man in the mask approached Kidd who was sitting on a huge rough-looking stone as he watched the battlefield in silence. Without saying anything, Killer stood at his side and observed the immense expanse of hills with no more than the occasional holm oaks. It was a good battlefield. Wide, without accidents and with good visibility.

“Where’s Darío?” Kidd asked without even looking at his right hand and best friend.

“The messengers say that he won’t arrive in time for the beginning of the battle, nevertheless, the man assures us that they will still make it for the mean dead. They are just a few hours away”

Kidd clicked his tongue annoyed, i was a slight disadvantage, but only a slight one. The army that he had personally trained would not fall so easily, even if some allies were missing."Did he offered a reason for the delay?”

“Apparently there have been problems to mobilize the army. Persia is a peaceful country that does not usually enter such conflicts. Bringing together the soldiers and making them move, has taken time”.

Kidd ran a tired hand over his eyes. He had not slept for several days preparing this battle, every detail and single soldier. He swore that he knew even the menu the recruits had eaten this morning. His head ached with so much information, with so much pressure and responsibility behind him, but he could not stop, everything had to be perfect. He was not going to lose Law again, not if he could prevent it.

“And our troops?” he asked again

Killer sighed repeating what he had already repeated six times that day to six different people.

“We are fine, the problem with the drinking water was solved this morning and the intoxicated ones are healing quickly thanks to Kureha and his doctors. The Greeks on their part also seem to have solved the problem with the sudden lack of weapons, and this morning Bartolomeo and Marco have been motivating the soldiers. Everything is fine”

Kidd gave a satisfied sigh. Finally good news. As a general, he had never known the problems involved in coordinating so many people and moving them with a single objective, now as an emperor he missed those days.

The resources of feeding so many people devastate the regions through which they passed, the arms and armors that they had to give to the soldiers exhausted the economic resources of the country, and if that wasn’t enough, the mental pressure that a war involved was slowly ending with his men.

Now, once settled in the field, there were many other problems. Diseases increased in the worst part of winter and the infernal conditions they went through had already made him lose several men, as well as the fights between bored soldiers with nothing better to do or the stupid rivalry between the Greek and Roman factions. That's why he was now giving thanks that everything was fine.    


“Kidd, you have to rest” Killer said then putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing him in a show of companionship.

"No," Kidd answered while he felt eyes close from lack of sleep “I still have to review the strategy for tomorrow and talk to Marco about the coordination and …”

"Kidd, don’t force me to knock you out and throw you in your bed," Killer growled.

“What?” Kidd asked turning to his friend with a frown “You're not capable of that”

“Kidd, you can not do anything else!” Killer tried to convince using another strategy “it's all perfect, you've measured everything up to the detail and there's nothing else to do”

“But …” 

“Kidd, rest. Really. You need energy to fight tomorrow”

Kidd again observed the field where the next day he would face the man he hated the most in the world. He began to see a remote logic to what the blond said, but his mind didn’t work as he wanted. He needed to rest and he knew it, but deep down he did not want to lie down.

This was the first battle he led, country against country, with the fate of a thousand souls in his hands. He had never done this and was too nervous and afraid to sleep. What if they lost? What if he couldn’t get back to Law? What if Doflamingo managed to kill him? Because Doflamingo was much older than Kidd. He had fought thousands of battles and he knew how to do it. And on the other hand, what had he done? Some revolt in Rome, fights in a little town with strange people who claimed to have powers. What would that do against the blond's experience? It was simply impossible.

“What will happen if we lose?” he asked losing his usual arrogant and confident pose slightly.

Killer looked at him for a moment surprised by the sudden change of subject and confidence. He knew what his friend was thinking because he had thought about it too. But Killer could not let him sink into doubt and distrust. Kidd was the king. If he went down all would sink, it was a basic rule.

"We will not lose," he assured him with the firmest voice he could muster. Proving to the other that he had not the slightest doubt.

Kidd looked back at him with a slight helpless look, as if he just needed to be reminded and confirmed, as if he just needed someone to cheer him up and support him with the enormous task he carried on his shoulders.

“But Doflamingo has more experience in battles and the support of all Greece and …”

"So what?" Killer interrupted, "you have Dario, a man I suspect is a thousand times better at strategies than Doflamingo, you have people who have followed you to this remote part of the world to support you. Does Doflamingo have that?"

"No," Kidd whispered, ducking his head and sinking back into an overwhelmed silence. "It's too much a responsibility."

Killer smiled behind the strange mask that covered his face.

"It always has been," he answered getting another smile from the redhead "You're doing the right thing Kidd" 

“Yeah” and slowly recovering the emperor's air that had characterized him this last few days, Kidd got up and stretched slightly in the cool of the afternoon "Okay, wake me up when the time comes" Returning the squeeze on the blond shoulder, Kidd moved away in the direction of the blood red tent that characterized the Roman royalty in which the emperor lived.

"Yeah, sir," Killer whispered to the wind as his eyes fixed on the white tents on the other side of the battlefield. In the man and army they would destroy the next day.

 

... Elsewhere on the battlefield ...

"How are the allies going?" Asked the blonde sitting on the large table with his hands clasped. His violet eyes moved across the map in front of him with various toys that represented both armies and their resources, and mentally repeating the steps for victory.

Vergo, sitting beside him in the vastness of the tent, quickly reviewed some papers by his side as the apparent silence of the camp enveloped them. It was already closed night, and the soldiers slept or at least tried to, while a few guards patrolled the camp. Doflamingo himself wanted to sleep, he was tired and he just wanted to end it all at once. But sleep would mean freedom of thought, and memories with Law would come back. The argument, the hateful words of the other as Doflamingo gave him his soul on a siver plate ... These last nights had been an nightmare. The brunet had decided to return to his old self and to his tiny room with the uncomfortable bed and the little furniture, instead of sleeping with him in the huge and fluffy bed they had shared for years. He didn’t talk to him e, nor did he come near him unless it was absolutely necessary. The blonde missed him. In his bed, at his side, between his arms.

He forced himself to focus on the meeting.

“The Athen and Sparta aid arrived this morning and as you asked I gave them accommodation in opposite areas of the camp to avoid conflicts” Vergo began.

"Good" Doflamingo whispered, because the last thing he needed now were stupid fights.

“Egyptians have also sent a regiment in consideration of the commercial alliance”

Doflamingo smiled at that. Having so many allies or people who owed him favors always came in handy for these things. With the Egyptians they added practically the three thousand men, almost the same as the Romans and the traitors had. So now, with the numbers matched, the victory depended on the strategy, and Doflamingo knew that he was much better than the redhead. after all, he had already lived several battles throughout his life.

Yes, they were going to win, he thought smiling, and then...Then what?

Would Law stay with him? Would Law want him and go back into his arms? No, surely not. Most likely, he would hate him even more for defeating his redhead, he would avoid him and despise him even more. He could capture Kidd, blackmail the dark with him. He could laugh at the redhead and humiliate him and could also force the happy emperor to renounce his throne in Rome and surrender it at the feet of Greece. He could do so many things if he won the battle.

But nothing he did would give back to him what he loved most. Law and his love and voluntary affection, Doflamingo would never have what Law gave freely to Kidd. Even if he won the battle, he would never get what the other had. He could never have happiness in his life.

“Okay, that's enough Vergo” he announced while interrupting the other and getting up “We better go to bed”

Soon Doflamingo was left alone in his tent surrounded by silence and the flickering light of the candles. He looked at the gilded, gleaming armor his right, ready to be used. He looked at the bed covered with exotic feline skins waiting for him.    


He realized that he was not going to be able to sleep.

So approaching the forged gold armor built in a pattern several centuries outdated, he unsheathed the sword from the silver pod with a whispering whistle. He watched tired the familiar red reflection of the fire of the flames, on its polished surface.

And then, after centuries and centuries without touching it, he raised the weapon in a firm grip and began to train with the batch of movements a thousand times practiced. The sword made the air roar as he moved around the room with elegant and precise twists and turns.

Slowly his mind went blank with the exercise until only a single image was left in his mind, while the steel splitted the air in half. Eustass Kidd, the man who had taken from the beginning the only thing Doflamingo wanted the most.

One last feint and the table in the middle of the room broke.


	24. War

The wind blew in the arid field, ruffling his hair and making it difficult to see. However, when Kidd put the helmet on his head and the scarlet locks stopped fluttering like a bonfire in the wind, he could fix his eyes without problems on his imposing army. They were all squared in a row in a perfect position as he had trained them during those years, and they were immersed in a reverential silence. As if he were going to lead the last battle in the history of mankind. Their serious and attentive eyes were fixed on the enemy without caring about anything else, the armor gleamed in the cold winter sun and the swords and spears gave off a bluish and unsettling brightness, prepared to be stained red. Their mental state was the best they had ever had. Kidd could not ask for more.

On the other side of the field Kidd perceived then, out of the corner of his eye, a well-known figure walking among his men giving the last advice to them with that elegant and authoritative attitude that characterized him. With that blond hair shining like burnished gold in the dawn sun.

He closed his eyes trying to calm down, focusing and discarding the fear and anxiety that had invaded him the previous afternoon. He should be doing what the god was doing, encouraging the soldiers one last time, giving them courage, hope and a goal to fight for. Now he should be doing his part.

He then uncovered the bright sword that had accompanied him during those long years of torture and, looking at Killer one last time, he smiled arrogantly when he gave a nod assuring him that everything would be fine. Then, calmly, he mounted the gleaming white mare with which he had competed years ago against Law. The horse responded instantly to his commands and began galloping in front of his army. Capturing their attention. Strolling and making the look of his men settled on him. In the general of that army, in the man they were willing to give their lives for. And he in return gave them back the image they expected of him. The emperor. The imposing man riding at full speed on top of the gleaming horse, with the golden armor and the sword raised high above. The man with red hair and a demonic look.

When he felt the attention of all his men on him, attentive to what he was going to say, waiting for those words of encouragement and support that would help them in the fight, he stopped the horse with a gentle trot. He then looked around the troops, stopping at his friends to take from them the strength he needed for this. He watched Killer, Marco, Luffy, Bartolomeo, Ace, Sabo ... and smiled evilly in response to their respective smiles.

He took a deep breath one last time knowing that this was the end and the goal of those last years. This was for Law. This was for himself and all the years they had lost without being together. 

He began to shout those words of anger that burned his throat.

...oOo...

Doflamingo looked back when he heard the powerful voice of the redhead behind him rumbling throughout the battlefield. He felt slightly surprised, as the redheaded men chanted with a loud scream after every sentence the redhead was saying, as the swords clashed against the shields producing a deafening and imposing bellow.

Turning to his men he observed then the sudden fear in his eyes. As if they were losing confidence in that well-prepared and coordinated army they had before them. Some even shook with terror when their eyes fixed on that red-haired, devilish-looking man, who walked in front of them like a monster brought from another world, growling, showing his sharp teeth to the world.

Doflamingo clicked his tongue now angrily. It was absurd, fear for an army led by a child? When they were being guided by a god?

"Why are we here?" He screeched then, spurring his own mighty brown horse like the redhead had done, refusing to let his men surrender before fighting. "Why did you come here Greeks?" he asked spreading his voice among the men who had never seen him before but who had prayed for his help in times of doubt.

The soldiers looked at him confused and he returned them a firm and sure look. That powerful look he had been handing out for years, the one that made men faint. He felt the doubt and uncertainty disappear when they watched him. The god of legends.

"We're here because they've challenged us," the blond continued, "because the damned Romans have come here thinking that they can invade us, that they can take away what is oursand can subject us."

He observed with satisfaction the anger in the eyes of his men after those hard but true words. It gave him courage to continue.

"Tell me Greeks, is that true?" He asked as he stopped his horse and faced the armed crowd.

A few shouts of protest echoed through the ranks of the soldiers. But still, it was not enough for the blonde, he wanted them angry, raged, wanting the death of others.

"And what do you plan to do to prevent it?" He asked again, raising his voice.

More screams were heard this time as the soldiers regained confidence at the words of the blond, while they turned angry and realized what was at stake in this battle, and what they could lose.

"We're going to finish them off," he said, and his words sounded like prophecy to the ears of men “We are going to massacre them in such a way that no one else will dare to rise up against us. We will go to war and we will show them why Greece is the land chosen by the gods, we will show them because we are at the cradle of civilization and because no one has ever defeated us”

And as he turned around and faced the traitors and their enemies, a roar sounded behind him as loud as the one that had sounded before the redhead's army.

He smiled impatiently as the tension between the two armies reached its peak. He had missed it he had to admit it. The roar of steel, the uncertainty of whether that night he will sleep again on a comfortable bed or in a common grave next to thousands corpses. But above all, what he had most missed was the thirst for blood. That primary instinct that every human being had and that made him want to rush at a gallop with his sword held high and cover himself with the blood of someone who had dared to rise up against him and his country. He wanted blood, and his gaze was only focused on one person.

In the boy mounted on the white horse with the shining armor.

His horse stirred uneasily, feeling his mood. He licked his lips as he covered his eyes again with the visor of the medieval helmet he had ordered to be made. He felt the redhead's gaze looking at him with the same murderous aura, and smirked at his opponent feeling the adrenaline in his veins. He wanted to scream with a twisted and hoarse laugh.

Finally, the horn that started the battle sounded. That serious and powerful note that made the ground tremble and the combatants scream. His horse began to run while both armies approached to collide.

...oOo...

The clash of both armies was heard very far away from the battlefield. The cries, the wails and the screams. Time passed while both armies mingled in a mob of men covered in metal. The fallen bodies made movements difficult, the dust raised by the horses did not let anyone see very far, and the armor plagued with blood prevented to know if the man against whom they fought was friend or enemy.

Slowly, an army imposed over the other, but when everything seemed resolved, the last-minute reinforcements arrived to changed the outcome of the contest. The afternoon came, and then the evening, and the night and then the dawn, and nothing seemed to be clear. Men were tired and without no willpower they fell to the ground without being able to even raise the sword again.

In the end, at the second dawn, the situation finally seemed to take a turn and an army managed to corral the other against a small ledge of rocks with a twisted strategy. They were instantly subjected, the soldiers feeling that the end was near. The corralled soldiers, exhausted from the long battle and without strength of will, felt surrendering to the victors.

...oOo...

The temple remained silent despite the tension and discomfort inside. Law, sitting next to the other novices in the throne room, sighed as the murmur of the prayers surrounded him enigmatically. They had already spent four days  praying, stopping only to eat something in the heavy silence, or to sleep a few inconsistent hours.

They had left him there, locked in place and unable to go out by the orders of the god. For his safety and own good as he had been told. He didn’t have to pray or be with the rest of the people, he had never done it and he did not think to start now, but even so, being surrounded by that disturbing murmur was much better than being alone walking around the place and thinking about the outcome of the battle. Because the uncertainty was killing him. The men had gone only five days ago to the agreed field and since then, the temple had not received any news. Not a message, nor warning, nor information of any kind of what was happening.

Law knew that the battles took time, but he also knew that they had agreed that the fight would begin two days ago. He had trembled with terror when he heard, several kilometers away, the roar of the horn and the fight of the two armies began. He hadn’t worried about sleeping since then.

What would he do if something happened to Kidd? What if Doflamingo had killed him? Would he feel something when it happened? even if it was several kilometers away? What would he do without Kidd?

He got up uneasily from the place where he was sitting between Robin and an albino boy named Bepo, both of whom were his only friends in the temple and the only ones who, like him, hated the god. Robin had wanted to be a historian in political administration instead of being drugged as a priestess as she was now. Bepo just wanted to be a normal and ordinary merchant and travel around the world discovering treasures and new places. They had only been a children by their time, and still, Doflamingo had destroyed their lives and had locked them there.

Robin looked at him when he got up. His pupils were still huge despite the fact that the ritual had ended several hours ago, which meant that they had probably fucked up the dose this time too. Stupid imbeciles. Law had tried to help several times with the attacks and spasms that were the side effects of the drug administered to her, and thanks to that, they had ended up being friends. That's why, despite the woman's half-closed eyes and her tired face that hid any emotion, she could instantly identify the worried look of the brunette.

"I'm fine," he whispered low enough so that the rest did not hear them, faking a smile in passing.

But as always Robin managed to read him perfectly and instead of smiling and letting the subject pass as they all did, he looked at him frowning.

“Law, everything will be fine” she try to cheer him anyway “I'm sure”

Law nodded but said nothing. Saying goodbye to them silently, he left the room where the novices were, ignoring the worried looks of his friends on his back, and not wanting to think about anything, he went to the apartments of the god from where he had a perfect view of the city through the colonnade with undulating curtains.

He thought about what he could do to kill time and not think about absurd hypotheses about what would happen in the battle. Hypotheses that always ended badly in his mind. He could swim in the huge pool. He could read in that comfortable chair where he had done it with the blonde the last time. He could prepare that delicious chocolate that the god had taught him to do, could ... He sighed knowing that deep down he would not be able to avoid thinking about the subject. He already knew himself too well.

Advancing through the room he went without thinking to the fluffy bed and threw himself on it feeling instantly the blankets and mattress swallow him. He moaned with pleasure. He could hate the blond and everything he did or had, but he definitely adored his fluffy bed.

He opened his eyes tired and instantly felt his mind lost among the convoluted figures of the ceiling with the drawings of Greek mythology. Despite those years locked in, he remembered everything he had learned before entering, the myths, the legends, the stories about men with powers that managed to move the sea and direct the world. Both he and Luffy and Ace had loved to listen to old Garp tell those stories and then they had played them the next morning in the courtyard imitating them. Luffy, who barely knew how to speak, was the damsel in distress or the relevant goddess that Ace, as the mighty Zeus had to rescue from the hands of the evil Hades that was always Law. Unfortunately Ace never managed to rescue him, and while Law laughed at him, Luffy was still tied up high on the tree. In the end Ace had tired of losing forever and Luffy had sworn that never again in his life would he dress as a woman.

Law kept remembering those games, and as he watched that mosaic, he remembered every battle he had had with his brothers ... although now that he really thought about it, they had never been his brothers. 

He then thought about how his life would have been if that night, as Darío had said, he would have remained in his room and stayed with his parents becoming a prince of Persia. Would he have been happier? Would it have been different? Would it have been better? But instantly, Law discarded the idea. If that had happened he would never have met Luffy and the others, he would have never ended where he was now and he would have never met Kidd.

A life without Kidd wasn’t a good life. He preferred the life that had led, with the tortures but with Kidd, rather to a pampered one but not knowing anything about the redhead. Yeah, this life was better, he thought smiling, without realizing he was falling asleep.

...oOo...

When he woke up in the afternoon, he did so because of a series of screams that ran through the temple walls. After a minute of bewilderment trying to understand the situation he was in, he jumped up from the bed and went quickly to the door of the rooms, where people were running and screaming and shouting on the other side.

His heart was beating faster than in his whole life. So much fuss could only mean one thing. The victors had returned, the messenger had arrived, everything was over.

However, before he could reach the door and open it, it began to open itself thanks to a bloody hand that pushed it from the other side. Law held his breath knowing that almost no one knew how to get to that place bowels except for a few people. 

The figure advanced entering the room and then, with a last crash, the door closed behind them leaving them alone and away from the commotion on the other side.

Law put his hand to his mouth as the figure approached him with a weak and hesitant step, leaving a trail of red blood in his wake. When he was in front of him, the man raised a hand covered in that scarlet liquid and stroked his soft cheek delicately, while Law, still unable to move from the impression, let tears fall down his face.

"Law," Doflamingo whispered almost without a voice, before moving forward a little more and hugging him tightly in his arms.

And then, without strength, the blond felt to the ground with Law trembling against his chest.


	25. Doflamingo

The two men stayed on the floor for a moment without saying anything. Law with the tears falling down his face and supporting the weight of the other who was beginning to stain his clothes red; and Doflamingo lying on top of Law not wanting to move and breathing heavily feeling like his lungs and throat burned raw.

The screams surrounded them and things were heard breaking in the distance, which surely meant that a fight would have broken out somewhere in the temple. But they did not care, Law wanted to assimilate that Doflamingo had returned.

And that Kidd had not.

His tears kept pouring out as he tried to convince himself that nothing was wrong, that this could mean something else and that Kidd was still alive. But his analytical mind undid all his hopes. He could not find any explanation for Kidd not being here if he had won. Kidd should be here. He had promised. He could not break a promise like that.

He felt something warm caressing his cheek removing the tears from his eyes. Looking down, he found the bloody hand of the blonde delineating his face with the usual delicacy, as if Law was another of his extravagant and expensive objects that should be treated with care. Law did not even try to take that hand away and just watched the man with his head resting on his lap, dying.

As a doctor he knew that the wound in Doflamingo's chest was deadly. If he had been treated immediately there might have been a chance of survival, but at this point, the blond had no chance.

And yet, despite all that, he realized with surprise that he felt nothing for the dying man. Not hurt, or anguish, not even sadness for his death, but neither did he feel the relief or happiness he had expected to feel when the man's life came to an end. He just did not feel anything. Because there was nothing to feel.

"Law ... " the blonde whispered again, as the blood escaped his lips "Law do not cry ... I ... I'm going to die" the man announced, smiling without a hint of doubt or fear in his voice, still cleaning away the tears that escaped through his gray eyes "and I want you to hear my story before that happens"

Law continued to look at him, watching the movement of those broken and blood-covered lips that had been kissing him only a few days ago. Life was so absurd, so ephemeral, he thought in shock.

"Law, I want you to listen to me and understand why I did what I did" he said while another fit of coughing appeared, making him spit again that red liquid. "Please Law, stop crying" the blonde continued repeating his name as if it was the only important word at that time.

Law still unable to move and still crying, nodded like an automaton. Doflamingo smiled again with a slight grimace of relief, as if with that and he could be happy.

" I was born in the north, in a village so cold that even in summer the countryside was still covered in snow ...

... I was born two millennia ago, when civilization and cultures had not even been created and people lived in small nomadic villages that changed places every few minutes in search of something to eat. It was a depressing time where magic and superstition mixed daily with reality and fanatic people, and committed unspeakable crimes in the name of strange deities without anyone being able to do anything to stop them.

At that time, I lived with my mother, a woman who had been kidnapped from a southern town that they had attacked in search of food and riches. I remember that she had charcoal-black hair and intense violet eyes that fascinated and at the same time scared the tribe, and so they took her with them as a prisoner. That's what my mother told me when I asked her about her appearance. And I believed it for a few years. However, the first time I thought there was something wrong with that theory was when I turned five.

That day we had finally managed to hunt down some food after weeks without prey, and while the people were enjoying the banquet, they locked us in one of the stores telling us that we would ruin the banquet with our curse. They left us without food. I remember complaining about that, but my mother just smiled sadly and hugged me protectively and forced me to shut up and sleep while her stomach roared.

It was then that I began to notice some details that had previously escaped me: the people's relationships with us, the way we lived or what people thought of us. Unlike what my mother had told me, they did not treat us as equals, but despised and marginalized us at every moment. What's more, I began to notice that there were some nights when my mother did not even come to sleep at our tent and woke me up only in the cold of the morning.

Years later I knew what that meant, although, at the time, it was only a small child who just wanted to sleep with his mother and did not understand reality.

My mother was the prostitute of those men. Not out of necessity like other women who needed money in exchange for their favors, but out of obligation. And because of that and because of her strange appearance between blond and tall blue eyed man, they despised her and used her as they wanted without her being able to do anything about it.

And that was how I spent my childhood and part of my adolescence. Walking from here to there between frozen landscapes, being marginalized and rejected by the only people he had never met and not understanding why. However, when I turned fifteen, something happened that changed my whole life completely.

One day I got lost in a forest for a whole week. The forest was like any forest in the area, covered in snow and with tall, leafy pine trees all identical to each other. I swear I've never had more bad luck in my life. I spent seven days debating between dying of hunger or dying frozen, knowing that deep down, no one was going to come looking for me, because I was the son of the prostitute. I screamed, I cried and I asked for help. I tried to find my path with the constellations in the sky, the animal paths... but everything was useless and on the seventh day I fell against an tree knowing I was going to die.

And then, as if mocking me, a bird appeared in the snow right in front of me. It was the first animal I have seen in those days, the first "food" I found, but I could not even move. The bird walked through the snow and landed on my shoe as if laughing at me and my death. I remember thinking, that if only I had something with which to kill him or a way to catch him ...

Then I raised a hand and moved a simple finger. And then the bird fell headless on the snow and the trees in front of it fell to the ground cut with a clean cut.

That was the first time I used my gift.

And thanks to it I managed to get out of the forest by rising over the trees and spotting the right path. But even so I kept it secret so as not to cause more trouble in the tribe. Even my own mother didn't know. When I had some free time I would sneak out of the camp and walk away to practice with him. Within a month he mastered it perfectly, and a year later I could do things that ordinary men would think impossible. I was a teenager, and with that gift, I felt the strongest man on earth, I thought that this would end my problems, that I would be able to help my mother get out of that torture ...

But things never work the way you plan.

The week that I turned sixteen and old man arrived that I disliked from the first moment. When he saw my mother he quickly tried to approach her with a more than obvious goal. My mother rejected him not having to attend to the demands of a stranger, and the men of the tribe laughed and praised my mother for taking such a wise decision. But still, the old man stayed with us, and with a clear rancor in every action he did, he began to conspire against my mother.

First he coaxed the women of the village saying that, as such a pretty whore, my mother would cajole her men and steal them away from they and their families. He called her a witch. With the hatred and fear that already existed, and with the superstition and magic that were part of our lives, the idea did not take long to materialize. The people prevented their children from approaching us and then they convinced some of their husbands until almost the entire tribe was against us.

However, thanks to God, the other half still tolerated us moderately and no incident occurred since I, already eighteen years old and much taller and stronger than most of the men in the village, did not let anything happen. However, the tension was growing more and more every day and had it not been for the village chief who tried to maintain peace between the different sides, they would have surely killed us without even doubting it. However, things got worse and worse and in the end it exploded.

I started hearing the screams one afternoon when I had left the camp to continue practicing those strange powers. Quickly, knowing what could be happening, I turned around and tried to get to where the camp was, but I had gone far enough and it cost me a while to get back. Upon arriving, the village was a total chaos, there were houses burning, people shrieking and blood staining the white snow. I went running to our tent without hesitation, seeing the terrified bodies of the few people who had defended us lying dead on the floor. I remember running until I felt the blood in my mouth and my lungs hurt to breathe the cold air, but that did not matter as soon as I arrived at our little cloth tent.

I definitely was not prepared for that, nor do I think I ever would have been.

There was absolutely nothing left of our tent, and instead there was a huge wooden bonfire that rose bright red to the sky. The piles of wood formed a circle inside which was my mother. Laying between the flames. Naked, with bruises covering her chest and blood stains running down her legs. Dead.

They had violated her. But unlike the previous times, this time they had not shred a bit of consideration to her and scratches and bruises showed that they had treated her almost like an animal. I cried as I fell kneeling in the snow. Meanwhile, the people around me contemplated the flames without doing anything, even the few families who had defended us and who were still alive looked at me repentant, but without daring to do anything. While my mother burned. While she left this world unjustly, without time to say goodbye to her.

The old man appeared beside me, letting out a chuckle of self-sufficiency and mockery as he licked his lips where he now had a horrible bite.

That was the first time I lost my mind.

I do not remember very well what I did exactly. I only know that when I left that camp two days later there was absolutely no one left or anything alive, no women, no children, not even stone left on stone. I buried my mother in a small mountain next to a small glacial river from where the vast white countryside was seen in all directions. Away from the camp and in a quiet and peaceful place. Then, I marked the tomb with a circle of stones, like a small temple in the middle of nowhere.

Then I just left never to return.

The following years, I dedicated myself to wandering the world doing any kind of work that could give me some money to survive. I traveled the world from one place to another, and I came across people who, like me, could do things that most people would consider fantasies. I found people who could turn their body into fire and not burn, there were people who had visions of the future that were always fulfilled, people who could move mountains with their minds, who turned what they touched into gold or some who could travel from one place to another in a matter of seconds. I stayed with them for a few months and we learned from each other, but we always ended up separating and we never saw each other again. I suppose it was during those years when I reached the necessary skill and dominated my gift to such a level that it gave me immortality.

And so the years and centuries went by. Traveling from one place to another, observing how the world evolved, but still unable to trust anyone enough, not finding something worth living for or making sense of my existence. I hated the human beings no matter where I went, I saw wars, the people suffering and dying of hunger while their rulers returned to throw away the food of their shiny plates. All was so absurd, that many times I thought about ending my life as not to observe the senseless massacre.

In the end I came here to Greece. It was a different country from all the ones I had seen before. People had their problems but they were relatively happy and they were governed by a fair system called democracy where they chose who governed them. I decided to stay here for a few years to see how things would end up. I bought a house and lived as an ordinary citizen for some time, but things got complicated on a stormy night where the floods almost destroyed the city.

As always I tried to help people with my power despite knowing that I would surely have to leave the place as soon as I did, since people used to fear me when I used it. However that time was different and when everything was resolved, Gold D Roger, who at that time ruled the city, was impressed with me and what I could do and asked me to stay there and help them when something bad happened.

I liked this place so I did it and I stayed in the house of the oracle that at that time was nothing more than a small temple with three or four rooms. And then the people, in gratitude for what I had done, began to give me offerings and praise me as someone deity who protected them.

A few centuries later they considered me a god.

And I ended up believing it. Forgetting everything I had done until then, from Gold D Roger and his kindness, my mother and my travels around the world, I focused totally on that new role. I built a huge temple where people could pray to me, a place from where I could control the city, I invented a system that gave me more privileges than anyone else. I became selfish, self-centered and greedy, just like the people I had always hated. But I didn't care. I had come to the conclusion that this was the best thing, that kind and good people only suffered at the hands of the rest. That if you had power it was better to take advantage of it. Why help the human being if they were cruel and petty? Better to take advantage of them. I forgot every principle for which I had fought until then, and only dedicated myself to seek my own benefit.

And so we come to the present.

When I saw you in the temple praying before the test, I felt in love on sight. When you finished the test in the Coliseum I was totally obsessed with you. Not only because you were the heir of Persia and I could use you to conquer that empire, but because of your personality. You reminded me of myself as a child, with that arrogance and irreverence for your superiors. You also had the dark skin and black hair that my mother had had, and I guess you reminded me of her.

In general you reminded me all at once. My childhood, my travels, everything. And I realized what I have been doing these last years and I hated myself. Those were a few depressing days, especially because despite regretting what I had done, I continued to make people suffer without changing anything, like you, for example, because I selfishly ruined your life so that you would be with me. That's why it took me a few days to meet you in person even though you were in the temple.

Even so I still didn't trust people, I still thought that the human being were still horrible and cruel creatures, and to prove my theory, to take away part of my guilt for those last years of cruelty, and to remove the obsession I had with you, I decided to tempt you. I wanted to show that you were like the rest, someone who, for some money or some privileges, would do whatever it was needed. But again, you showed me how wrong I was and rejected everything I offered you.

And the obsession grew to levels that I never would have believed possible, I had never wanted someone as much as you. The night at the pool I would have raped your if you had not said anything, but I had promised myself to become decent again and that's why I didn't force you. I guess in the end I ended up falling in love with you, you were so different to all the people I had met, it was so much fun talking to you, provoking you, playing...that I started to feel that life meant something and that there could be good things in it. I wanted to make you happy, I wanted you to love me so we could live that way until the end of time.

And from the rest you already know the story. I found you with Kidd. I got jealous thinking that he was going to take away someone who mattered most to me, and send everything I had achieved in those months with you, to hell. I went back to becoming the monster that I was before I met you, and I hurt you just in the same way they had done to my mother.

I cried when I realized that my efforts were useless. When I broke you and you looked at me with that empty look. I fell back into despair and lost all hope in life again. I gave it all for lost until Kidd came back. It was to murmur his name, and you came back to life with that look full of emotions that I had been waiting to see so much. And again the jealousy that I had promised not to have again, and the desire to kill him and lock you in some place where he could not find you.

When Kidd declared war against me, even though I hated them for what I had seen they do to people and countries, I decided to fight for you, for something that had given me back my life even if it was for a moment after so many centuries. I decided that I would do it right this time, that I would get you once I killed Kidd

... And here I am ... " The blonde laughed sarcastic, with that voice that was becoming increasingly weak "mistaken again and about to die"

Law then looked at the man in his lap assimilating what the other had just told him. The silence between the two, was only cut by the heavy breathing of the blond who was becoming more and more irregular. In his mind he was still worried about Kidd, but the blond's story had definitely brought him back to this world and definitely now the man had his full attention.

It was ... too much for anyone.

Now he understood everything, the obsession, the mood swings without meaning... and yet what worried him most was the blond's opinion of life and people. He sounded so hopeless when he had spoken of it, so broken and dead that Law doubted this was a lie to gain him back.

It was horrible. Someone who had to went through all that, had experienced such emotions, could not end well. His chest contracted in a tight knot as he imagined the whole story, the boy watching his mother burn, the rejection, the fear ... as he understood the suffering, despair and frustration that the blonde must have gone through.

Raising a hand he stroked the blond hair that was over Doflamingo eyes, and gently removed it so that it would not bother him, without knowing what else to do for the man who had lived such a life.

The blond smiled at him with a wince.

"Law I want to tell you three things" he said grabbing his hand before Law removed it from his face" The first, thanks for all you have given me, thank you for reminding me why I was fighting, and for having restored my confidence in life. Despite the hatred you had for me, these have been the best years of my life" he murmured with a weakened voice.

Law's tears came back to his eyes. It was not fair. The blonde could not die like this, there had to be something good in his life, something really good and not a forced relationship, he had to be with someone, everyone deserved to be happy. He pressed the blonde's hand in his, giving him encouragement, supporting him, giving him the only appreciation he had ever shown.

"The second" said the blond looking at his gray eyes directly "I apologize for everything I've done since we met. I've been so selfish that I did not realize the damage I was doing. I want you to be happy and free, to do whatever you want... I want you to be with Kidd. I have never seen two people so in love with each other and I know that he would take care of you."

Law cried now frustrated, he wanted to do something for the blonde, save his life, give him some real happiness, but time slipped from his hands. The other could not go like that, not like that. But the hand that held his each was trning colder and he knew at the bottom that nothing could be done.

"And the third one," Doflamingo said with a bitter smile on his face. "Please, Law. I want you to forgive me, let me go to the other world with a clear conscience, tell me you forgive me."

Law hugged him. Doflamingo, coughing blood on his lap, couldn't just tell such a story and then leave like this. Why hadn't he told him this before? Everything would have been so different. He wanted to hit him and insult him for doing this, for changing everything with a few simple words.

"I forgive you," he murmured, his voice shaking. "I ... you can't die like this, it's not fair, you still have to ... you can not" Law tried to speak without being able to finish any sentence.

The blond laughed again.

"Don't cry my death Law, it's not worth it"

But Law shook his head, and squeezed even harder.

"I love you Law" the blond whispered delineating with a finger his lips and capturing his tears "thanks for everything"

And without a warning, his body stopped working and his arm fell to the ground between a pool of blood. Law with wide eyes stood still trying to catch some sign of the man's life, a breath, a faint heartbeat. But only the cruel silence enveloped him.

He cried feeling as if an important part of his soul had been ripped out. Because although he had never wanted to admit it, after so many years, the blonde had become a fundamental part of his life, the one that locked him up, the one that hugged him at night or with which he kept interesting talks for hours. And now that he was not there, all felt empty, something was missing and the hole hurt. Especially after that confession.

Leaning against the blonde, he pressed his lips against the blonde's. He kiss him. It was not one of the passionate kisses with Kidd that stole the air. It was not one of of those shared with Luffy or Ace, innocent among brothers. It was a kiss of those given to a friend. A goodbye to a man who had suffered like no other but who had moved on despite everything, and who had finally regained confidence in everything, someone who had needed only a minimal reason to return to life.

It was a goodbye kiss.

...oOo…

The hours passed and Law was still sitting in front of the blond's body without enough strength to leave. The uproar of a few hours ago had ceased and now only absolute silence surrounded him as his gaze remained fixed on the sheet that he had wrapped around the body to hide the wounds and a face now pale.

He had stopped crying a while ago and now he simply watched silently the blood on the floor with a blank mind. He had complained about his life when Doflamingo had had one a thousand times worse. Law had had a family to support him, friends, and people who loved him. The blonde had always been alone. And Law understood how horrible that was, he had been locked in the temple for a few years had thought of committing suicide to put an end to that horrible feeling. He could not even imagine what it must have been like for the blond all those centuries, with no one at his side to support him.

He reclined on the floor feeling his legs asleep from sitting so long in the same position. And that's when he heard some quick steps approaching where he was with the blonde. He quickly thought it would be Vergo. After all, there were not many more people who knew the location of that room. Surely Vergo would enter into a rage when he saw Doflamingo dead. He would try to kill him as Law had always suspected that the brunette wanted to do. He should defend himself despite haven't trained for years and not having any kind of weapon at hand.

But he did not care. He was tired of it all. Of so much injustice and secrecy. He had thought he knew the blond and the man had kicked him in the mouth. And Vergo said that he really protected and appreciated the god. It had always made Law laugh. Surely the mam would be like the rest of them, and would only be interested in the riches and privileges of the position that he would have, and now that the god was dead, he would get angry because he had lost his position. Surely Doflamingo have guessed it and it was the reason he always tried to avoid the man and treated him like an annoying but necessary dog.

But when the door was opened from a sharp blow in front of him, it was not Vergo who appeared.

It was Kidd.

With his fiery red hair and his eyes the color of blood. He was wounded in several places and was panting heavily as if he had been running for hours. His clothes were stained with blood and mud and there were several broken parts of the heavy armor.

But he was alive.

Law held his breath feeling the purest relief through his veins despite what had just happened.

Kidd looked at Law in the middle of the room in the most intense way he had ever looked at anyone, and Law could not help but put a hand to his mouth and let out a gasp as he felt his heart come back to life with that.

The next instant Kidd ran to Law and hugged him tightly. Then Law returned the hug with enthusiasm wrapping his neck with his arms and sinking his head into the hollow of his neck not wanting to be separated from the man again, with too many emotions inside to even try to talk. Kidd stroked his head, sinking his fingers into his soft black hair, sighing just as relieved as the other and handing out kisses over every tiny bit of skin he reached.

"We won Law," he whispered then as he squeezed him even more in his arms. "It's all right now, you're free, Law. We won," he repeated.

And this time Law believed him.


	26. Pride

The events after the death of Doflamingo happened quickly. The conquest of Greece by the Roman Empire, was carried out without any mishap, since the Greek army had completely fallen. The Greek population, for its part, accepted peacefully the change of powers without worry, after all, the abuses of power and the democracy hadn’t been what they had expected,  and they almost welcomed the Romans as heroes. A new provisional government was quickly established while the territory was secured, and new leaders took their positions under the direct command of Rome and Kidd.

In Delphi things were not very different, after the fall of the god and the assembly, the army took control of the city, and with the help of Marco and the rest of the allies, peace was quickly restored among the population. The test system was abolished. Freedom of choice was declared for everyone, including women and slaves, who were finally released by Kidd’s orders. Celebrations were held. The houses were rebuilt and quickly, everything returned to the normality and tranquility of always. With the heat of spring beginning to green the fields and the cries of the merchants again on the market. As if nothing had changed since Law was a child, as if the world didn't care about everything that had happened, and as if it could continue like this for centuries. In a long and peaceful continuity.

The Persian army for its part had returned to its own country despite Dario's reticence. The old man had not practically separated from Law in these last few weeks, and despite the initial shyness on both parts, it had not taken long to catch up on their lives and hobbies which practically were the same.  Swimming in the Bosphorus regattas, riding a horses, the strenuous study of medicine, they had already shared this things several times. Even so, a few days later the man had not been slow to demand that Law followed him to Persia to take the throne that he had to inherit by right. Darius could not stay in Greece indefinitely, there was an empire without king or successor and it had to be returned in one way or another.

But Law had only smiled at him without knowing yet how to answer him, had kindly told him that he had to think about it, and that he needed some time first to get used to the idea. Dario, of course, had protested and had given him quite convincing arguments in relation to a certain library he had in a certain palace, and a certain medical culture inherited from distant Asian and Arab countries. Law had hesitated and wished to go. Stupid old man and his convincing arguments. It was clear from who he had inherited that part of his own personality.

But he couldn’t leave like that. Despite all the time that he had spent at the temple, he had not talked to Kidd about anything. They had not even seen each other. After the first meeting after the battle and after having left the temple in a strange silence and embraced, they had gone to the old house where Law had spent his childhood. His brothers immediately, seeing him free, had overwhelmed him with hugs and cries of happiness. Kidd, of course, had left the after a while, to tend his troops and see the casualties they had had among their ranks.

And since then everyone had had to attend to their duties, one as emperor and the other as heir to a distant throne, without even having time to see each other. They had not even had a decent chat, as much as a crossed glances or a share a greeting as they ran the street towards another meeting.

So now, finally, Law was sitting in the living room of Kidd's house, quietly waiting for him after having received an invitation from the emperor. Law did not know what to do. He was nervous, he did not know what was going to happen with this conversation. He was not prepared for it psychologically, he didn’t know what to say to the redhead after everything that had happened. Kidd could have fulfilled each of his promises, but Law still couldn’t give him what the redhead wanted. He still could not give himself to him. Even though the problem with Doflamingo had been solved, Law could not accept himself enough to be with Kidd. He was still stained, he still was not up to Kidd.

He sighed as he remembered the invitation he had received this morning from the redhead, written in a formal language that did not reveal his intentions, and accompanied by two soldiers who looked at him intrigued but intimidatingly. As if  this was a life or death message that should be delivered to him by these two towers of pure muscle for protection.

An invitation?  _ Really? _ How the hell was he going to refuse when the damned soldiers were two heads taller and broader than him? Stupid Eustass. Apparently his years in Rome had given him some brains and he had learned how to psychologically manipulate people. Or at least manipulate them more subtly than before. 

And in his house? How had it occurred to him to invite him to his house? What part of "get out of here" had Kidd not understood in their last discussion? How the hell was Law going to be comfortable in his house? Although maybe that was also part of his psychological strategy, to make him nervous so that later, Law couldn’t fight him back as he should. 

He was turning paranoid.

The servants upon his arrival had made him get into this huge room and had made him sat on the couch, not knowing what to do, to wait for the other. Then they had left him alone. 

It was a small house to be true, with just two floors with the essentials. It was well furnished and decorated with weapons and a military-style mosaics, besides, it was slightly separated from the city and you could breathe the calm and relaxing breeze of the sea that could be admired from any point of the house, almost as if it was a castle on top of it. A small island.

It was a nice place that Law hadn’t expected Kidd's to have, but, as always, the redhead managed to surprise him.

Even so, all this didn’t matter when he began to hear firm and powerful steps approaching the room, announcing that his host was nearby. Law sat on the seat fully alert and with his hands crossed on his legs in a posture that showed nothing of his nervousness. He almost jumped when the door behind him opened and Kidd entered into the room.

His red hair instantly caught his attention and almost like a reflex, Law’s body began to warm up and he began to sweat under his clothes. His red eyes looked at him then with that air of the emperor that he was now, serious and intense, with his attention totally fixed on him. Law trembled inside with pleasure. The redhead was wearing normal and comfortable clothes instead of the armor of the last time, which let him glimpse his figure much better. A figure that made Law swallow hypnotized. How could the other be so ...handsome? It shouldn’t be allowed.

But Law said nothing and faked normality as Kidd circled the room and him as a predator studying his prey. Then, the redhead sat in front of him on one of the other sofas that next to the huge and disturbing bed, and sent him a quick glance that expressed anything but calmness.

God, this was definitely awkward. Why had the servants taken him to _ Kidd's room _ ? Would not it be better if they talked somewhere else? This was too forward,there was no need to hurry, why be in a hurry?

"I'm sorry I took so long," Kidd said in that voice that made Law shiver, and without taking his red eyes off his for even a moment. As if he was drinking Law with the same look as Law himself had done with Kidd seconds ago.

"It’s ok" Law answered, looking anywhere in the room except in Kidd's eyes. He could not stand such intensity. 

Kidd, for his part, remained silent watching the dark in an attempt to memorize him again. Then, taking two golden glasses from a tray beside him on a small table, he filled them with the red wine from the jug and handed Law one of the glasses over the table. Law watched the golden cup in front of him without taking it, and waited as Kidd leaned back against the couch and drank from his own glass briefly, still not taking his eyes off him. If he had expected a nice and pleasant reception, he had been very wrong, he still didn’t say anything.

"Are you alright, Law?" Kidd asked then, his voice soft and low, trying to calm him but at the same time with a slight mockery in his voice, like trying to provoke something Law did not understand.

Law in answer only nodded. He finally took a drink from the cup in his hands, but didn’t say anything. He just held the cold cup between his body and Kidd's as if it was a small barrier between them, his last defense against the other.

Kidd took another drink from his drink while nodding. Even so, Law could feel a slight discomfort in his eyes at the lack of reaction and at his defensive position in front of him.

“Well, I'm glad” he said again with a hardener tone. Then he sighed “...you were so thin when I found you that I thought you were sick or that …”

"Kidd," Law interrupted, cutting off his attempt to get on the theme out of the temple. He didn’t want to talk about it. Not with him. "Why am I here?"

The tension returned between them a thousand times heavier.

Kidd set the glass on the table and rested his elbows on his knees, leaning in his direction. Only the small table separated them now, a few miserable centimeters that could disappear in a matter of seconds. Law decided it was time to taste again the wine that Kidd had served and taking the glass to his mouth he took another sip. Bitter and acid, but without doubt, a wine of the most expensive ones that could be found.

“Law” Kidd said without letting him distance himself in the least from the situation and hide behind the glass “come live with me”

And clearly it wasn’t a request.

Law squeezed the cup between his fingers at the suddenness of it all, feeling the adrenaline in his veins and the pulse racing in his wrist. He couldn’t do it, he definitely couldn’t do it. He had thought he could face Kidd when he arrived, he had the stupid feeling that he could handle him.  _ But he couldn’t _ , he wasn’t ready yet. He had wanted to be slow, to get away from the redhead little by little so as not to have to suffer more than necessary, a gradual transition to make him understand that this couldn’t work. 

Kidd had destroyed it all. He felt his body tremble without strength left to fight more against Kidd.

“ I’m sorry but no, I do not…”

But before Law could explain himself, Kidd rose from his seat in front of him with a sudden movement and crossed the short distance that separated them occupied by the table to sat down next to him. His arm was instantly leaning casually on the couch behind him, wrapping his shoulders but not touching him. His legs crossed in front of him over the table, preventing any escape. Leaving him space and not even touching him in the least, but surrounding him in that possessive pose so characteristic of him. 

Law tensed without being able to avoid it, when he suddenly felt overwhelming heat of the other against his body. His own body began to heat up even more despite the situation, until he felt a certain part of his anatomy began to come alive. So close. After so many time. Without anything stopping him from...

"Why not?" Kidd asked without letting go of the subject as the stubborn man he was, with his mouth pressed to his cheek and his breath gently caressing his skin, "everything is fine now, why don't you accept me? Didn’t came here to see me?” He asked, with a slightly hurt tone.

Law closed his eyes making a last effort. Why didn’t he understand?

“Kidd, I can not, not after what …”

"That again?" Kidd growled dangerously. Practically like the predator that Law imagined him to be in his mind. Lifting the hand that didn’t lay on the sofa, Kidd put it on his chin and turned his face until the other's gray eyes finally collided with his red ones “I do not care what you have done, or what you have faced. Now you're here. And that's the only thing that matters”

His eyes did not separate from his for a second. To make it clear to Law hat he was not lying. That he was never going to blame him for what had happened inside that place. But Law looked away without trusting him, without believing his words.

"Kidd, you don’t understand." His voice was practically trembling and Kidd hated it. What had happened to the arrogant boy from before? What had the blonde done to leave him like this? He regretted not having killed the blond himself with his own hands when he had had the chance “I can’t ... with you I …”

Kidd couldn’t stand it anymore. From the moment he had seen Law in his house, in his room, in his territory... his mind and body had only wanted one thing, and although he had managed to restrain himself for this conversation, now that he had  _ him _ so close to him, practically in his arms, his brain wasn’t work as it should. And if Law was so fucking vulnerable and defenseless that all he wanted to do was hug him and love him until he was this old self again, until he forgot everything and felt safe, it did not help much either.

Approaching the other and shortening the last distance, he joined their mouths in a gentle touch. Nothing sharp, just a soft and light touch of lips. But he could practically see Law's muscles tense beneath him and his pupils dilate to unsuspected limits. Fuck. He felt the heat running through his veins the next second, as Law tried to pull away even though his mouth continued to rub against his in desperation.

Kidd wanted to smile at the brunette's attitude, but the other's lips were too addictive to stop the contact for even a second.

Slowly and without wanting to scare him, he licked his lower lip, delighting in the bitter taste of the wine and the flavor that was unique to Law. That flavor that always intoxicated his senses and made him want to rub against him until melting with the dark body. 

Law, on the other hand, sighed at the delicate act and unconsciously opened his mouth, letting Kidd enter as if it was practically a reflex act. Kidd however didn’t do it, instead he decided to step away slightly and let Law come over and ask for the contact. Something that did not take long to occur when Law practically didn’t let him go and even with his mouth open chased his. Kidd tempted him even more by separating again and letting Law be the one to approach. 

So that later, when they finished, Law couldn’t claim that he didn’t love him, that he didn’t want Kidd by his side.

The third time that Law came following his lips, chasing tireless, Kidd couldn’t resist him anymore and finally covered his greedy mouth with his. The kiss was like the ones Kidd had been imagining it for years. Slow, passionate and something that destroyed his mind like an explosion. 

Although the tongue against his was delicious and although Law had tried to be sweet and go slow, the intensity of the kiss was increasing until Kidd practically devoured Law's mouth, famished, without giving him even the slightest chance to escape from this. Biting him, sucking him and licking him until his lips practically bleed from the intensity of the kiss. Law gasped against his mouth, but he didn’t let go, and Kidd tasted that longed mouth until he was slightly satisfied and decided to release him momentarily. Only momentarily, since his lips were still pressed against the other in a clear hint that he was still far from satisfied.

"Kidd," Law whispered stifling against his mouth. With his face red and his lips worn. But sure, in his house, in his room and in his arms “Stop, I'm dirt…”

He kissed him again without letting him think about that for a moment. And this time Law squeezed the shirt over his pectorals with force when again he took his breath away. Kidd bit him, letting him feel his anger.

"I do not care," Kidd replied when they parted again.

"But," Law continued, his voice trembling between gasps and the intensity of their kisses “I do not ... you deserve better and …”again the lips of the redhead in his mouth, silencing him and forcing him to stop thinking.

Law’s mind worked less and less. The skilful mouth of the redhead always ended with him, he could never resist him, he was simply too skillful, too delicious, to even think about leaving. Without power anymore to resist the other, he opened his mouth and let the other do what he wanted with him. Lowering his head until the predator tired and released its prey.

“I do not want anyone else” Kidd said again while Law tried in vain to recover his breathing “I only love you Law, understand it. You have made me the man I am now, you should be proud of yourself”

Heat arose in Law’s  chest at his words. Was it true? Could he really feel proud? For having helped Kidd? A weight lifted off him when he realized that, for Kidd, he could stop considering himself worthless shit. Because he had helped him. And even though, he didn’t think he hadn’t done much, even if it was only a little, he could really feel proud of himself. Because Kidd was a man to be proud of, amazing, wonderful. 

However, despite the new idea that brought him back to life, when Kidd kissed him again and this time reclined him on the sofa in a clear hint of what he intended, Law held his breath. His hands trembled when remembering why he was denying the other, slightly panicking as the situation developed. He could go back to accepting himself, of being more than garbage, but it was quite another thing to ruin Kidd's life by letting him see what Doflamingo had made of him.

“Kidd, no” Law tried to resist one last time, knowing that surely this was going to be his last chance to make the other think, as his own erection began to throb in his pants, and from what he felt against his thigh, Eustass was not very far away “You can’t, you don’t know what …”

Kidd looked at him from above him now. Completely occupying his field of vision and leaving him no choice but to look at him and accept him.

"Don’t try to get away from me anymore, Law” Kidd sentenced as he slowly descended on him “I will not let you walk away from me ever again. You are mine. You are perfect. Accept it and shut up”

And without further ado, he kissed him without giving him a break. Meanwhile, his hands flew over the stupidly hot and sensitive skin of his stomach causing chills, lifting his shirt and exposing him to his famished gaze.

Law tried to resist the other, his intensity and his attentions but internally he had prayed a thousand times for this, so when Kidd's mouth went down his neck, he couldn’t do much more than wriggle under him after the discharge of pleasure. Kidd's hands caressed his abdomen gently, with that delicacy of his own that made him feel like the most beloved person in the world. 

Law buried his hands in the reddish hair of the other as he had wanted to do since he had seen him, inhaling his scent and feeling totally surrounded and protected. He loved him so much. Kidd was and would always would be his life. That's why he forgot everything and simply gave the other what he wanted. Because he could never deny him anything, even if it would destroyed his life when Kidd rejected him, when he saw what Doflamingo had done to him. Even so, he would be with him as much as he could this last minutes of their relationship.

He moaned loudly when Kidd began to nibble at his collarbone, and, lowering one hand, Law traced the other's back over the shirt feeling the other's powerful muscles against his hand. Kidd continued licking him, raising his hand across his chest until he found his nipples and began to roll them between his fingers. Law let him do what he wanted, he even turned his head to allow the other better access to his sensitive skin. He felt like his mind and the armor he had kept for years melt little by little with each touch of the redhead. With each delicious bite against his pulse.

Kidd delighted in the tan's skin, licked every corner, squeezed every curve of the tan until he felt him melt in his hands moving as he wanted him to move. His skin felt warm and dark against his hands, beginning to sweat. He felt his erection hard against his thigh. Kidd still hadn’t started, he still had not ripped his clothes off, nor had he devoured Law as he wanted. But even so, feeling the other so hot with so little, it was not helping his mental health much.

That was when he decided it was time to make the clothes disappear. Returning to kiss the other firmly, he introduced his open hands under the other's shirt and pulled it up pulling it off, breaking it without the slightest regret. He noticed Law pant but arch over the sofa as if offering himself even more.

And that's when he saw it. The marks decorating the smooth and perfect chest of the other, the scratches, the hickeys ... without being able to avoid it, he stopped and watched with rage at each mark in that delicious body.

Quickly the atmosphere from before broke and Law returned to look at him with that regretful and hurtlook that he hated so much, before looking away and try to get away from him once again.

”I, I'm sorry …”

Kidd didn’t give him the slightest chance. Regretting his slip, he quickly closed his mouth again over one of those marks that had made Law suffer so much. Proving that he was fine, that he didn’t care what he had done to survive and that the important thing was that he was now with him. Letting him mark him as he wished.

He outlined that skin with his lips, reassuring the other and letting him see how wonderful he was. Lowering one hand, he pushed it into the other's pants, unable to hold it any longer, tightening it around Law's hard erection. He felt the other melt immediately under his hand forgetting everything as Kidd wanted. Kidd relished the erotic moan that escaped the other as he closed his eyes tightly. His teeth closed around one of those dark nipples and with amusement he began to wear it with his tongue, feeling Law writhe under him.

"Kidd," Law whispered, scratching his back as his hand picked up speed. In a mute plea for what he wanted him to do.

Because it was clear that they were not going to last much, they had been waiting for this for too long, so much so that now that they were finally in front of each other, they were hotter than ever. Kidd practically felt his hands tremble on the other's skin, as if they still couldn’t believe what they were touching. He felt his own body burning to feel at once the skin of the other against his. That's why Law pleaded with him to move from something more fun than a simple touch. Kidd conceded it wanting to please him. He would do anything for Law, he would visit hell if he needed to.

Separating from the dark for a single second, he took off his own shirt and quickly pressed their chest together as his hands went down the sides of the other to his waist. Law arched up on the couch and, raising his arms, he pushed them back into the fiery hair of the other, clutching him tightly and pressing their bodies even closer in moans of satisfaction at the touch.

Kidd however, lowered his hand even more over the body of the other until he reached his pants and skillfully freed the need of the dark while at the same time getting his own pants down. He did not even finish taking the pants off of both of them, he just released his erections above the garment, the need too great in their bodies to delay this much more. 

Law whimpered when Kidd fell on him practically sinking him into the couch cushions, and without realizing it, he dug his nails back into Kidd’s soft skin when he gathered their erections together in his hand and started pumping them. Skin against skin. Finally.

Law watched as his mind unraveled in a wave of pleasure melting every fiber of his body at the contact. But it was not enough. He wanted more, more contact, more friction. He began to move his hips to the rhythm that Kidd marked, rubbing his erection against the hand of the other in a totally submissive and desperate movement. He opened his legs, ditching the pant, to allow the other better access to his privacy and allowing the other completely between his legs. Offering himself on a platter as he had not done with anyone.

Their mouths rejoined as Kidd increased and increased the pressure on his grip, while his other hand caressed every part of his anatomy threatening to drive him crazy. Law grabbed Kidd by the shoulders, pulling him against him as if he wanted to merge with him. With the other between his legs going crazy little by little.

But he had not been waiting for years for a hand job, he wanted the other inside, deeply, buried in him, in which Law thought would be his last time.

“Kidd” he called back to him with that pain left in his voice but firmly hidden in a pleasant moan.

Kidd seemed to understand as if he read his mind. Taking one of the dark man's hands and bringing it to their hardened erections, he made Law grip them and be the one to keep the rhythm. Which Law did instantly earning a loud moan from Kidd as a reward for his ability. Kidd however brought his own hands to the other's buttocks, and after squeezing them possessively in his hands, he lifted him off the couch standing with Law in his arms.

Law moaned at that. Kidd kicked his own pants while he continued to devour the dark man's mouth in his arms and felt like Law’s tights wrapp around his waist and his hands pump without fatigue the heat between them.

His legs trembled at the sensation, threatening to make him fall, but he remained in place and quickly walked to the huge bed in the room, with a huge window on it’s side overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Pulling both of them on the bed his hand went over that soft thigh that still wrapped around his waist possessively.

Then stopping the other’s hands and sending him a warning look not to move, he pulled away from his mouth and down his body until his teeth closed on the tender skin of the inner face of a delicious thigh that had been tempting him for little while. Law's eyes did not detach from his own, making everything all the more erotic. Especially as he went down to reach the erection of the other that Law was still pumping with passion and the other's eyes began to tremble.

Law held his breath impatiently as Kidd made him stop and, getting into position, he approached his hot member so sensitive now. Kidd smiled wickedly contented that nothing had changed since the first time they had done this.

As he descended again to take the other in his mouth, one of his fingers entered Law beginning to open him. When he received nothing but little moans from the Law, he decided to introduce a second and then a third. Law still did not complain in the slightest, what’s more, he began to ride on them erotically, at a wild pace that had Kidd’s cock instantly throbbing painfully.

But even so, the look Law gave him was again that one hurt and shame, as if Kidd knew what he was thinking for the lack of pain on his part. Kidd tensed his jaw feeling anger rising inside him. Doflamingo had probably done everything to leave him this state: his body capable of being violated at any time without even having to be prepared. That must have been a humiliation for the dark-haired man, a constant reminder that his life meant nothing more than being a whore to satisfy the other.

Rising up on the bed, he rejoined their mouths as he positioned between Law's legs. Although this time Kidd felt Law hesitate in the kiss. As if, in spite of everything, he was still not sure of everything, as if he were still thinking that this was making Kidd miserable instead of the happiest man in the world.

"It’s okay, everything's fine, Law," he murmured as the kisses flew over the other's face.

Without further delay, he entered into the other wanting to make him forget again. Gently, with all the delicacy and affection of the world. While his arms hugged Law and one of his hands flew to the need of the other to make it easier for him. Law buried his head in the hollow of his neck and released a sigh while Kidd kept pushing.

And finally he was inside the other, within those walls that he had longed for so much and that were sucking him desperate in a sea of velvety heat. It was like feeling at home, it was like coming back after all those years of suffering, it was like finding the happy ending he had hoped for.

"Are you okay?" He asked the boy in his arms that had not said or done anything in a while. Caressing his hair affectionately trying to relax him. Law nodded instantly. "Can I move?" And at the second nod Kidd decided to start.

At first it was slow and calm. Going in and out so slowly of the other that it could have been called torture instead of the most pleasurable moment of his life. Settling into the dark and trying to event Law from feeling the slightest pain. Meanwhile, his arms enveloped the brunet protectively, and his mouth was on the other calling him.

But Law did not want that. He did not want the other to hold back because of him to the point that it was hurting him more than giving him pleasure. He wanted the other to enjoy. Because surely, after this, the other would send him to hell. So Law wanted his last time to be something he could remember with pleasure. Moving his hips in the tiny space that the other had left against his body, he began to move until he reached a rhythm that he considered normal.

He felt Kidd tremble over him at the sudden change of pace and his pale hips betrayed him by inadvertently doing powerful and deep thrust against Law. The dark man gave a surprised cry at the surge of sudden pleasure that flooded him when Kidd hit that point inside him in the way he adored and that made his feet curl.

But he growled frustrated when Kidd returned to the previous slow rhythm and handed repentant kisses across his forehead.

"Kidd," he said in a firm voice, assuring the other that he was fine but inevitably trembling for when he saw his lust filled eyes “D-do that again”

Kidd parted slightly from him and looked into his eyes as if to make absolutely sure he meant it. Law held his gaze even though the intimacy of the act sent shivers down his spine.

When it seemed that the other was satisfied with that, Kidd took his legs from under him brought his knees to his chest. Exposing him totally and at the same time leaving him vulnerable to anything he wanted to do. Kidd immediately lay on top of him, making Law’s legs rest on his shoulders and keeping the posture, although this time, pressing his hands next to Law’s head to gain balance on the mattress. Law found it difficult to breathe in that position, but his problems disappeared when the other began to thrust on him, as eagerly as he had asked him to do.

Only this time, and in this position, it allowed the huge member of the other to enter completely inside him and hit precisely his weak point.

His mind stopped processing what was happening. Kidd moved against him like an animal in heat, as if his words had released everything he had been holding, and now Kidd just could not stop. Their moans were loud, and Law suddenly felt closer and closer to the orgasm as Kidd mounted him with a pace and force that should not be possible for humans.

Law instantly panicked. He didn’t want it to end, he could not finish. This had to last a lot, much longer. Because if it ended now, it would be the goodbye and he did not want that to happen.

Pushing the other away from him and breaking that perfect and possessive position, he sat on top of the other, and hugging him by the shoulders, he began to ride over the other's member. Hiding his face from Kidd so that he could not see the tears that were beginning to form in his eyes since, even if he had changed the position and this one did not allow the other to go so deep, he could not stop the orgasm that was coming.

"Law?" Kidd asked, as the other changed the position. Trying to look his face to see what he had done to make the other angry enough to do this. The other position had seemed perfect, allowed him to ram deep into him, while he could kiss him and see his face of pleasure, while allowing him to take full control and ... and it seemed that Law had also been liking it. What had happened?

But the other kept hiding his face to his until he felt the orgasm begin to shake every fiber of his body like never before. It was then, when separating from the other and taking his face in his hands as the tears rolled over, that Law asked for the only thing he would never ask for again.

"Tell me you love me," he whispered in a broken voice, pressing his forehead against Kidd’s "Even if it's a lie. Just tell me”

Kidd thought at that moment that he needed to kill someone. Forgetting instantly the hot, sensual body moving against his, he hugged Law tightly. How could he ask that with that face? Kidd thought he had already made it clear, he thought that the other would already know it. The anger that arose inside him at that request made his blood vibrate. How could he think that he didn’t love him when Law was what gave meaning to his life? How did he doubt it?

“I love you Law” he assured him with the most serious voice he could muster, while taking the other's face between his hands and making him look into his eyes “more than anything in the world. I will not leave you, I'm not going to let you get away from me. Never. It will be impossible for you to ever get rid of me" he said firmly.

Law smiled with a sad smile.

“Thank you”

And without further ado, the wave of pleasure that Law had been containing took him ahead. He felt as he climaxed between them, as he squeezed the other against him possessively and out of his mouth came out a desperate moan. But even so, he did not stop riding the other, even so he squeezed him strongly dragging the other with him into the chaos of sensations, until everything disappeared from his mind.

When he woke up after a few hours, it was dark outside and the sea licked the sand from the beach peacefully, causing relaxed atmosphere. Law sighed tiredly staying still for a moment  assimilating the situation. It would be better if he left first and didn’t see Kidd, so they could skip a talk that none wanted to have. However, when he went to get up, he felt the arms of the other surrounding him from behind, felt his thigh between his possessive, and his breath against his hair.

His body tensed without understanding what was happening.

A chuckle sounded behind him and he felt Kidd move until his face appeared in his field of vision. The red hair stirred, the satisfied look and those strong lips that Law could spend all life licking

"Good evening, Law" Kidd murmured with a huge smile on his mouth.

Law looked at him without knowing what to say.

“Hello” he comment at the end, his voice slightly hoarse from the moans from before.

Kidd's hand around him began to run across his chest with gentle movements, almost unconscious, and he approached to steal a quick kiss from his mouth.

“I have the bathtub prepared in case you want to take a bath, you also have food on the table and some clothes that you can sleep with”

"What?" Was all Law could say. He did not understand anything, was not Kidd going to kick him out? Why did he give him food and clothes? Kidd looked at him with confusion in his eyes before hugging him harder and smiling wickedly.

“Do you prefer to sleep naked?” he ask evilly “because I won’t complain about anything, even so, you should warm up or you will get sick”

Law looked at him, frowning. With the body of the redhead enveloping him and surrounding him languidly, in a pose possessive but protective. Both naked and cuddled in bed.

"Are not you going to throw me out?" He finally asked the question that burned his throat. 

Kidd frowned.

“Why would I throw you out? You are perfectly where you are, and I have already told you that you will never get rid of me” he conclude kissing his cheek with a smile.

Law looked at him feeling a knot form in his throat as it became increasingly difficult to speak.

“Then it was true?” he ask with his last doubts drowning his voice.

Kidd looked at him without understanding.

"What is true?" Asked the redhead without knowing anything but with concern beginning to emerge in his eyes at his attitude.

Law could only jump on top of the other and hug him tightly as he felt the tears flood his eyes again, although this time, from  pure happiness.

"I love you Kidd, I love you so much," he whispered against the other's neck as he practically suffocated him in his embrace.

Kidd still didn’t understanding anything, but happy by the words of the other, hugged him back tightly as he returned to rummage his hair and wipe the tears. They would talk later, they would have dinner and they would bathe, now all he wanted to do was to lie down on the bed with Law between arms happily. Again together as it should have been from the beginning

“I love you too” he whispered against Law’s ear.


	27. Forever

“The conflict with the Sicilian oil has been solved and the complaints of the population have diminished after the imposed measures. Even so, in Greece they continue complaining about taxes saying that giving us thirty percent of the crops is too much" announced the tall man with the parchment paper in his hand.

Killer sighed tiredly. He had spend the whole damn morning and part of the afternoon solving these kinds of problems, and surely, tomorrow, another mountain of agreements and treaties would be waiting for the stamp of his royal seal. It was one of the main problems of being in charge of an empire. It was too large a territory and there were problems in every damn corner of it, with dissatisfied people waiting for him, the new emperor of Rome, to solve them.

Now he understood why Kidd had been so tired those first weeks. If he, who had risen to power legitimately, was finding this difficult, Kidd who had had to start it all from should be dead. Now, he envied the redhead who had resigned a few weeks ago as emperor and had gone with Law to Persia. No one would survive in this position for more than two weeks unless he worshiped being emperor, he was already thinking of resigning too and he had only been in this office for two days since the assembly had chosen him.

"They're right," he announced at last, addressing the man in front of him hoping he could solve the problems. "Greece has just come out of a war, you can’t expect them to pay the same as other territories"

-”So what do we do sir?” the man asked politely with the same bored face as he.

“Lower the taxes to a tenth percent. Seeing that we give in with this will also make them trust us and we can obtain what is missing from other more productive regions” he announced “but, when they recover, we will raise them again”

The man in front of him grinned, understanding his plan. Rome always got what it wanted, if it was not now it would be later, but it would get it.

"Something else?" Killer asked, looking bored and slightly desperate.

“No sir, that's all for today”

Killer jumped for joy inside his mind. Rising from the seat and feeling his muscles clenched after so long sitting in the throne he went to his quarters ready to rest for damn time. He had two free hours left before he had to get in a carriage and visit the aristocrats and merchants to make agreements and make official visits, but he swore that he was going to sleep till then.

However, his dreams of rest and relaxation were destroyed when he entered his room and found two men in full combat with swords on his bed.   


Killer frowned, counted to a thousand, took a deep breath, and clenched his fists imagining that he was squeezing something else. It did not help. The two men kept jumping on his bed without realizing his presence.

"No, not like that, you are doing it wrong," one man said, stopping for a moment and approaching the other. "If you want to kill me, you have to hit like this, you see?" He explained, showing a fluid movement hugging his friend from behind.

"Like this?" The other asked innocently, not realizing the hand that rubbed his ass like the most normal thing in the world. 

That was the straw that broke this patience, and Killer decided to interrupt this before it got out of hand and they ended up doing something they should not.  _ And in his bed _ .

“Bepo, Sabo”he called “What the fuck are you doing?”

The two men looked at him in surprise and then smiled at him. The albino with that happy and pure smile, and the blond with that evilone who did not announce anything good, while still not separating from Bepo.

“I'm training him” Sabo finally said with that challenging look on his face.

“Yes, we are playing fights” the other exclaimed excitedly as he got off the bed and came to where Killer was showing him his new sword.

Killer just stared at him. Law had asked him to take care of this guy since according to him "Delphi is not a good environment for someone so innocent and who better than an Emperor to take care of him", then Kidd had insisted and in the end he had to stay with the boy. And what at first had seemed like a nightmare, it had quickly become too interesting. Bepo was simply too innocent, so much, that Killer had been unable to mess with him and take advantage of the situation.

The blond knew that part of that innocence was because the boy had spent practically his whole life locked in that temple, and did not know anything about the world, another reason why he had agreed to welcome him.

Killer’s hands flew over his almost white hair and that snowy skin as he listened to the other's fresh laugh in his ears as if it were music. Bepo was his new obsession. An obsession that was costing his beloved hours of sleep.

However, the problem was not the boy, but the idiot who had come with them as an ambassador from Greece. Sabo, accompanied by Bartolomeo, had agreed to come to Rome to organize things a little between the two countries. They came and went from one place to another in what Killer supposed to be short and quick visits, but they were stretching and stretching for longer and longer. And Killer suspected that they had more and more to do with playing with his beloved and innocent albino instead of dealing with political issues.

Killer hated Sabo because he knew what the blond intended to do with Bepo, after all, it was the same thing he was intending. But unlike Killer, Sabo didn’t have as many obligations to attend and could spend more time with the boy. For that, Killer hated him even more. The knowledge that Bepo would be with the other, that in those moments when he was writing his signature on a contract, he could be losing against his stupid rival, got him crazy.

Killer had never been a good loser. Grabbing the boy in front of him, he pulled him against his body in a possessive embrace. Bepo leaned back against his chest while a strong blush covered his pale cheeks.

“Bepo” Killer said without realizing anything to not seeing the other's face” I do not want you to talk to Sabo, do you understand?”

Sabo glared at Killer as he finally climbed down from his bed. "You have no power to order that," he growled annoyed. "Bepo, do not listen to him and come and let’s continue ..."

A loud bang interrupted them. Bartolomeo, at the door, scanned the room with the face of someone who was going to kill someone. Finally his eyes fell on Sabo. A look of pure hatred creased his face as he entered the room with a firm step.

“Sir, we're going home.  _ Now _ . "he announced, grabbing Sabo by the arm and pulling him out of the room.

“Why? We still have time" Sabo growled trying to resist his friend and get back to Bepo.

"No, you don’t" Killer replied this time smiling evilly as the other had done a moment ago.   


Sabo laughed sarcastically, and the look Bartolomeo gave his friend would have made people faint. Sabo froze, then he just smiled at Bartolomeo in response and let him drive him away.   


Killer, even the boy still in his arms, smilled in victory, then he looked down at Bepo's adorable blush. Unable to contain himself, he gave a chaste kiss to his white hair. Bepo then raised his eyes and looked at him with confusion. Between his arm, flushed, with doubt in his eyes, and so fucking close that he could feel his breath against his chest.

Killer sighed as he released the boy using all his will power. He definitely needed sleep.

...oOo...

Law walked with quick and angry steps down the damn corridor with the wooden windows overlooking the impresionant garden full of trees and fountains. The servants who crossed him looked at him in terror, running away wisely from his path without telling him anything. Law thanked them, because today, he swore he would lash out at anyone.

Finally reaching the room he was looking for, he flung it open without even deigning to knock. He immediately wanted to hit Kidd to death and beyond.

The redhead was on one of those soft and fluffy Persian carpets of intense red. He was sitting on a pile of fluffy cushions embroidered with gold, and beside him was a table full of mint tea and those arabian pies that carried too much honey for Law's taste. Through the balcony window entered a pleasant summer breeze, giving the room a perfect temperature and filling it with the smell of the Bosphorus sea. The prototype of wealth.

Kidd read a book in the midst of all those pleasures with a bored face. The turban over his hair let loose more strands than it held, the shirt was too open, showing his deliciously muscled chest, and the pants were adjusted just to the curves to which he had to adjust.

Even so, Law was not tempted by that, nor by the fact that, when Kidd saw him enter the door, his gaze went from boring to one of the most absolute happiness. Law was angry with Kidd, and he wanted to stay in that state. Closing the door behind him as to not create a scene in the middle of the palace, he asked the damn question.

“Eustass Kidd, where are my clothes?”

Kidd's happy gaze turned to a playful and amused one while on his face stretched that damn smile that turned the dark brown pulse to an increased beat.

"You do not need them" replied the redhead, looking at him shamelessly from head to toe.

Law's skin bristled at that starving look, but, crossing his arms over his body, he continued the discussion.

Kidd, for his part, delighted with Law’s now more tanned body who wore no more garment than one of those Arab pants that fit at the ankles and waist and that were thinner than transparent sheet of paper. They let him see his long legs and that delicious chest exposed without a shirt.

“Kidd” Law insisted again “What have you done with my clothes?!”

Kidd hid behind the book so that the other couldn’t see the childish smile on his face. Definitely destroying the tan's clothes had been one of his brightest ideas.

"I don’t know what you're talking about," he said, this time with the voice of a good boy who had not broken anything in his life. “Why do you think it was me? Why would I want to take anything away from you? It could have been one of the servants, they are weird you know, Persian”

Law strode across the room with a frown. Then he bent down and took the book from Kidd's hands to throw it into a corner and then, with no patience left, he sat astride the hips of the redhead. Preventing him from doing anything other than paying attention to him.

Immediately Kidd's hands were on the skin of his stomach caressing him possessively, hugging him and bringing him closer without letting him escape. Law was tempted to roll his eyes.

"It was you Kidd," said Law. "You're the only one in this palace with the balls and idiocy enough to steal my clothes and hide them as if you were a small child."

This time, it was Kidd's turn to frown. With his wounded pride, he decided that this time, he was not telling him where the clothes were. Law glared at him, as silence stretched. 

“ _ Kidd, tell me. Where.They. Are” _

Kidd grinned mischievously as he rose over his elbows to get closer to those tight lips of the other, full of anger.

"And if I don’t?" He asked in that grave tone he knew Law couldn’t resist. Law's lips trembled impatiently and his eyes flew to the lips of the redhead now so close to his own. Kidd's pride again bloomed in all its splendor as his hands caressed the tender skin of Law's back delicately.

"We won’t have sex for a month" Law said without taking his eyes from his lips.

Kidd licked his lips and watched fascinated as Law followed the movement chasing his lips, now with no hint of anger in his eyes. Only desire. Kidd wanted to laugh.

“I don’t believe you” he mocked the dark haired boy with an smile on his mouth “I don’t think you can spend two days without sex, and to tell the truth, I can’t either”

Law growled defeated and pounced on his mouth. Kidd lay back with the brunette on top of him, he felt his body start to warm up as if always did when Law was around. Law's kisses however always got him hard in seconds, like a fucking virgin, he was fascinated by the control that the brunette could have over his body.

His hands went down the boy's back until they reached his butt where they squeezed his buttocks strongly massaging them possessively. Law bit him in the kiss in response and began to rub against him in that blessed way that turned the redhead mad. Law wanted to punish him without sex? Well, dreaming was always beautiful.

“Guys, I don’t care what you do in your free time you know, you are young, you have met after years apart, I understand” said a voice from the door with a bored tone "but I do need Law in a meeting in five minutes, so Kidd, dear, I would appreciate it if you could  _ take your hands off my son _ ” Darius growled, glaring at the redhead.

Kidd clicked his tongue at the interruption. Law sighted.

"Is it necessary?" Law asked, looking at his father without separating from Kidd.

"It's a conclave with the nobles who wanted to overthrow me so, yes, it is," the man said, looking amused at his son's annoyance, "It’s ok, it will be fun, there will be a fights and drama" he promised.

"Okay," he said at last, getting up and going to the door where his father was leaning. Then he remembered something important and the reason he had come here “Kidd, come with me and help me get dressed” he commented, worried about the whereabouts of his clothes.

Kidd smiled amused hurrying instantly after the dark, understanding Law’s “problem” about the clothes, but wanting to take advantage with the whole ‘getting Law dressed’. His dick was still hard after all. However, and as always, a hand stopped him in his place.

“I do not think that's necessary” Dario said with a murderous look but with a huge and chilling smile on his face. Law signed, already knowing him and giving up on his wardrobe, went to his room to find something to wear. 

Kidd for his part looked defeated as Law walked down the hall along with his hopes for some fun. This was not the first time this had happened, but even so, Kidd couldn’t avoid the feeling of anger and physical relief. He looked at the culprit of everything with hatred while the king in turn also glared at him.

Darius seemed to have developed a visceral hatred for Kidd since they had recovered Law. Kidd partly understood, after all, he was stealing his son away, taking away Darius’ opportunity to have grandchildren, and taking Law down the path of depravity and lust ... or something like that that the king had said. Out of respect and understanding, Kidd had contained himself at first, but, recently,  the old man didn’t allow them to be alone, he always interrupted, and he was quickly ending with Kidd’s patience and endurance.

Standing in the middle of the corridor they looked at each other with annoyance, ready to gut each other.

"One day I'll finish you," Darío threatened, crossing his arms in a superior pose.

"Keep dreaming old man," Kidd replied sulking.

...oOo…

“And then, when everything seemed lost, the Persian army appeared on the east with Dario on front” the old general was in the middle of the square, with the children's circling around him with bright eyes “Together, Darío and Eustass managed to corral the Greek army against a mountain of rocks thanks to their numerical superiority, and so…”

"Kidd killed Doflamingo," shouted one of the children excitedly.

Garp on his part just smiled at the boy and without worrying about the interruption he continued telling the story.

“And then, Kidd raised one of the metal wagon with his powers and threw it at the terrified soldiers. Some were injured, but most just shrieked like hysterical women and peed themselves” the children laughed eagerly as they imagined the scene “Then Dario approached the group” he said getting serious again “and looking at Doflamingo he asked him to surrender or be massacred right there. And as a reminder of what might happen, Kidd again lifted two heavy wagons as if they weighed no more than a feather”

In the town square the silence was sepulchral while Garp reached the peak of history and everyone held their breath. Even the parents behind the circle of children looked at him without taking his eyes off the man for a second.

Robin also listening to the story, although a little more removed from the crowd and sitting on a bench, leaned against his partner who, like everyone in that square listened to the old man without taking his eyes off him. Franky embraced her unconsciously and Robin let out another funny giggle, delighted with the childlike attitude of this man. Only someone like the old general could have half a town drinking from his words.

“The soldiers threw the weapons to the ground while they knelt in front of the two emperors begging for their lives” Garp continued sending an accomplice smile to Robin “but Doflamingo never surrendered, much less to Kidd, the boy he had exiled years ago. Before anyone could do anything, he rose into the air and disappeared into the clouds escaping from the battle”

The children protested annoyed at that end. Adults began to murmur with each other.

“So he flee? Where is he now?"Asked a red-haired boy who innocently gave his hand to another dark-skined one, with a calculating look that reminded Garp too much of Law.

“It is not known, maybe he is in the other part of the world, maybe the wound that Kidd inflicted him in the fight killed him, or maybe he is here right now” Garp responded, earning a scared look from the people but a challenge from the red-haired boy “but people say that he will one day take his revenge against Kidd and Darius”

The fearful murmurs were heard again while the red-haired boy then went to embrace the dark one at his side by the shoulders with protective air, looking with hatred around him as if looking for Doflamingo. The brunette only pushed him away and addressed the old man.

"And why did Doflamingo expel Kidd from the start? And why did Kidd decide to return if he was already an emperor?" This new boy asked, staring at the older man.

Garp swallowed hard. He had decided not to mention that part of the story so as not to get Kidd and Law in trouble. Besides, those things were not told to the children. So, now that the child had brought up the subject he found himself not knowing what to answer. Robin behind him laughed amused with the mess the old man had gotten into.

“Well, I think that's all for today” said Garp getting up from the seat and trying to move through the children around him trying to escape.

People began to move away and go home satisfied with the story, and quickly the plaza began to empty. However for the torture of Garp the two children, the redhead and the brunette ones began to follow him down the street.

"Hey, old man," the brunette began, calling him how Law always called him, that is, without a hint of respect. "Why won’t you answer my question?"

“Let it go” answered the other child “It is clear that Kidd came back to save his honor and the town from Doflamingo” but the brunette passed him and ran after the old man.

"And why did Kidd didn’t want to be an emperor and went to Persia with their heir? Wasn’t Law your son? Why did Law let Kidd go with him? "The boy did not shut up and Garp was starting to get scared.

This was getting out of hands. This happened when he decided to tell  stories. Ignoring the children, he began to hurry towards his house. The children without hesitation, ran after him.

...oOo…

The blond man rolled over in the bed until he caught the warm body of the other again in his arms. The feel of the other's warm skin against his made him tremble as he felt Ace doze without realizing anything. Smiling warmly, he began to kiss him softly on the back of his neck and shoulders, waking him.

It was all just perfect, the pleasant warmth of the sunset, the white curtains rippling with the wind but allowing in those sunbeams that had warmed the air and the delicious skin of his golden lover, the feeling of his tired body after spending all day loitering in bed with Ace... He swore he could die happy.

Removing the thin sheet that timidly covered their naked bodies, he ran his hand along the side of the brunette cradling his soft freckled skin. Squeezing the naked ass while Ace curled up in his arms without knowing anything. 

Slowly Ace woke up thanks to his attentions and after stretching a little, he turned, looked at him, and smiled with that bright smile. Marco kissed him immediately, and Ace wrapped his arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly.

And then, he felt the horrible pain rise from his side.

Marco let out a growl and instantly, Ace pulled away with concern in his eyes.

“It's nothing” he tried to calm him down, but Ace just frowned and rose over his lover. 

“Law told you that you had to rest, and yet, you keep going to the assembly, and wanted to have sex” Ace complained “You are hurt Marco, accept it”

Marco just grimaced and lay on his back on the mattress. The bandage around his stomach squeezed the wound painfully but he ignored it. It was not so bad, going to the assembly and exercising his position as the new head of the city, didn’t involve any physical effort, and sex ...well, he was not going to give that up.

“Ace I told you that we're not gonna stop having sex”

“But you're hurt, and Law said...”

“I'm fine”

After the war, many things had happened, and he, by chance, had ended up as the leader of this piece of the world. He didn’t complain, it was a good position, well paid and that allowed him to give Ace everything he wanted or do what he wanted, but he had also do some things that he had not liked at all. After the war there had been people who continued to support the god, Vergo, Bellamy and many other people who had needed to be judged for their actions and sentenced. It had been a long and complicated process, especially because they were his people, his relatives, people with whom they had lived together ...

But yesterday he had finished judging the last one and there was nothing left to do so he could rest. Even so, from the beginning, Ace had been complaining that he didn’t take enough care of himself.

He was just his sun, Marco still didn’t understand how he had survived without him all those years ago, he had healed and cleansed his wounds when he was writhing in pain after the battle, had massaged him when he came home with his muscles cramped since then... Marco had discovered in those few weeks that Ace was able to excite him just by putting his hands on his body and that a massage could become the most erotic thing in the world.

Marco stretched on the bed and then left it without worrying about putting on anything, after all, Ace had already seen everything there was to see. Moving through the room he went to the door ready to make something to eat. Even if it was seven in the afternoon his stomach needed something after all that exercise.

"Where are you going?" Ace asked from the bed.

“To make something to eat” he answered bored. However, when he turned to see Ace, he met his gaze languidly going over his body and stopping longer than convenient in his butt. He still had a frown on his face, but clearly, his mind was on something much more fun.

Congratulating himself internally for not having put on clothes, he decided that it was time for him to provoke the brunette to the limit.

"Wanna accompany me?" He asked in the most cloying voice he could muster as he turned to face his boyfriend, allowing him to observe hin in all his glory.

Ace's gaze widened and Marco wanted to laugh.

"You're a bastard," Ace growled.

But Marco smiled as Ace got up and approached him to kiss him, this time deeper than the others. Well, Marco thought as he wrapped Ace's waist, the food could always wait.

...oOo…

Zoro felt the pain rise up his back like needles cutting his skin. He had broken two ribs after the battle, which were taking too long to recover. However, that was not his biggest problem at the time. His biggest problem and what caused him the most pain was Luffy's mouth over his.

It had been another of those encounters. Suddenly, a meeting by chance, a cross between looks and in the next moment he was squashed against a wall vilely. Like animals in heat, in any fucking place and without concern of passing people, they went at it as if this was their last time. 

And that it still meant nothing to Luffy, hurt more than all the injuries he had.

Feeling his heart break, he decided to carry out the plan he had planned a few days ago. He couldn’t go on like this, the relationship was destroying him, and no matter how much he adored Luffy, he needed to get it over, with and find another person who gave him back  _ something _ . Because he adored Luffy and had told him a thousand times so, but in return, the only thing the other had done was smile at him.

Pushing Luffy away from his body, he took a deep breath to release the words that would end this. The other returned to catch his mouth without letting him do anything but answer him. Zoro growled frustrated. Saying such words required too much strength for the other to just ignore him.

However after the kiss, it was Luffy who broke away from him, hugged his neck and looked at him intensely. Zoro felt the words slip surprised. Luffy had never done this, and in addition, the dark look he had confused him, so much love, so much passion.

"I love you," Luffy muttered "I love you. I love you," he repeated. as if something had finally been released and he could say it.  Zoro opened his eyes as Luffy pressed their foreheads together and began spreading kisses on his lips.

“What?” the green haired man murmured “Why?”

The brunette smiled happily as his hands hugged him and forced him to lean in to save the height difference. “Why are you asking me that? You are amazing Zoro, the best thing that has happened to me” he answered happily “I have always loved you, from the first moment I saw you”

Zoro clenched his fists impotent as his eyes filled with tears and his instincts resurged wanting to hit Luffy.

"And why haven’t you said it before?" He shouted. He had been about to end with him, he had been about to finish this because Luffy did not want him and now the idiot told him that he had done it from the beginning.

Luffy looked at him suddenly with regret in his eyes, as if knowing what had happened and hating himself for it. “I ... I could not, I thought something bad would happen if I said the words” he confessed “but now it's fine, now I can say them”

And without further ado they kissed in that intense way. In the way that made Zoro's knees tremble and he wanted to just lie down and let Luffy do what he wanted with him. To lost each other in that tent in the middle of the training camp, amid the cries of the soldiers, forgetting everything and just enjoying each other.

When they parted Luffy smiled and Zoro gasped. 

“Well” said Luffy annoyingly satisfied “now we just have to tell Mihawk, so he can let you come live with me”

This time Zoro's heart stopped but for a very different reason.

"What?" He asked as he looked at Luffy terrified.

His father, Mihawk, was one of the most traditional men in the world, a great swordsman with the greatest respect among the members of the city. Telling him that his son had decided to spend the rest of his life with a brainless child, that he would not continue with the Roronoa inheritance, was not a good idea. It was  _ definitely _ a terrible one.

Luffy moved away from him and started heading to the exit with an idea in mind that made Zoro's heart want to pop out of his chest.

“Mihawk is a good man” Luffy said convized, strapping the sword to his waist “Sure he will understand”

The next instant Zoro ran behind Luffy thinking about how ironic life was. In how a few hours ago, it was Luffy who did not want to deepen their relationship, and in how now, he was the one who wanted to prevent the relationship from deepening and becoming public. And  wanted to stop prevent the head of his boyfriend to roll on the floor thanks to his father’s sword.

...oOo…

Law made a circle with his hand and the bluish sphere grew in his palm. With a little effort he made the walls of the small sphere expand until they surrounded the quiet nature around him. The trees, the grass and the snow that fell from the sky and covered everything with a thick white mantle.

Kidd beside him shifted uneasily as he wrapped himself more tightly in the huge fur coat that covered him. Even so, Law knew that it would not be enough, this cold penetrated any clothes and entered between it until it settled on your bones.

Keeping the sphere as wide as possible, he pressed the redhead's hand to his side asking him to be patient. Regulating his power to divide it and be able to do two tasks at once, he lifted the pile of stones that had been collected and placed them neatly on top the body buried under the ground, indicating that place as a grave that never, should be bothered.

When the stones were placed to his liking, he let his powers dissipate, the sphere dissolve and the snow fall back on them silently.

None said anything, they just stayed silent watching the two tombs side by side. The larger of the two had a rudimentary block of stone on which the weeds and moss had grown. The other one, a little smaller one, where a god covered by the stones that Law had placed, have just been buried. Both peaceful and quiet. In the middle of that desert mountain whose horizon stretched in all directions as far as the eye could see, and surrounded by that circle of smaller stones as a protective barrier that Doflamingo had himself built centuries ago to bury his mother.

"Do you think this is fine?" Law asked Kidd. "Do you think it's okay to bury him with his mother?"

Kidd looked at him seriously for a moment, then turned and looked at the two graves. Releasing a sigh, he scratched the back of his neck without really knowing how to answer that question. Law had told him the god's story, and although Kidd understood, his resentment of the man was still too much to forgive. He would have dumped his body in the river. However this had seemed important for Law. 

“It's the best place for him” he said at last “calm, peaceful ... and it will remain this way for a long time. It is a good place to rest”

Law nodded as he leaned on the redhead's shoulder looking tired at the two graves. It had cost them a few years to find the grave of the blonde's mother. Many times, they had thought that it was impossible to find, but here they were. And now that Law had managed to give the blonde a small farewell gift, he realized that saying goodbye was costing him more than it should. Kidd wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Are you all right?" He asked as the last rays of the winter solstice streamed down the trees and illuminated his hair, making it look like fire.

Law nodded. Taking one last look at the stones and thinking one last minute about the man buried under them, he turned decisively. It was time to forget all the suffering and evil of the world, and simply facing his future and happiness with Kidd. To remove this last weight from his shoulders and leaving it on those stones with the man who had actually taught him so much.

“Let's go” he asked “we can not do anything else”

Kidd followed him without saying anything. They both climbed on their horses. Pinguin neighed happily because his master was coming back and they could get out of here for a damn time. The cold affected everyone, both, animals and people.

"What do you think happens when we die?" Kidd asked suddenly, watching the lonely tombs thoughtfully.

Law turned to look at him, surprised at the sudden, profound topic of conversation. The redhead was not the kind of person who gave a lot of thought to that kind of things and although, this moment was somewhat disturbing with the solemnity and silence, Law didn’t expect it from the redhead.

"I do not know," said the dark-haired man as he buttoned his long coat a little more, "but we still have a lot of time to find out, right Kidd?" He asked with a twisted smile, trying to bring some light back into the conversation.

Kidd smiled warmly as he began to spur his mare to start walking after Law's horse. However, when he was beginning to approach him, he frowned, realizing something.

“Wait ... How do you "find out"something like that?”

Law put on his best psycho smile insinuating everything gore and evil while Kidd stood by his side still riding his horse. Kidd paled and Law could not help but laugh at his reaction. God messing with the other was so funny. Leaning over the chair, he kissed the redhead's cold lips as he began to frown at Law for making fun of him.

“I sometimes wonder how you could become an emperor”

“What?!”

But Law had already set up a fast gallop and was riding away laughing through the snow-covered field. Grinning evilly, Kidd spurred his white mare and encouraged her to follow Law in a race that reminded him of one they had had a long time ago.

Moving away from the silent circle of dark stones and chasing a man laughing happily in front of him, making fun of him, making him also want to laugh stupidly of pure happiness and scream at the cold to make it now that it couldn’t hide such warmness.

Returning home to never leave again, to be happy with the person he loved the most in the world.

THE END

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's interesting to translate old stories. I finished the original story in 2014, just four years ago, and I can still see the difference. Not only for the way my writing had changed (I don't think I would ever mix so many cultures as I did in this fic, at least not without a mayor motive and not in such a careless way) but also for how my way of thinking had changed. 
> 
> I don't think that now, if I wrote this story again, I would let Law forgive Doflamingo, no matter what happened to him in the past or what he did. There are also ways of thinking or expressions from the characters had hit me wrong, but I used back them as if they were nothing. 
> 
> I have changed a lot of things from the original, I have tried to be exact in the translation, but there were things that just, I just couldn't do. In the rape scene for example, Doflamingo breaks Law's ankle and there is a lot more blood. I decided it was already bad enough as it is so I skipped this. I wasn't good with dialogs back then too, so some conversations between the brothers were almost erased because they didn't add anything to the conversation and were TOO silly. Law also cried for Doflamingo death, but since I didn't like that, I also deleted it. 
> 
> In this chapter for example Bartolomeo ended up with Sabo as a pair, or they buried Doflamingo in Stonehenge. I considered it too weird, and I didn't want to add another more culture, so yeah, also erased it. 
> 
> In general, I think I am happy with this story, the plot is interesting, and I can start to see how I began o take care of details, backgrounds and well, the story. 
> 
> I hope you can also keep improving, I hope you liked it and will forgive my past self. 
> 
> See you guys


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